542 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Prof. Francis Jager was selected to head 

 the department, and enlered upon his duties 

 only about two j'ears ago. The choice seems 

 to have been a very fortunate one, for Prof. 

 Jager has the most loyal and enthusiastic 

 support of the association and the beekeep- 

 ers generally. A substantial increase in 

 funds for the department for the coming- 

 two years is provided for in the University 

 budget. 



The big surprise, not only to the college 

 officials and to the general public, but to 

 the beekeepers as well, came when, at the 

 short course recently held, the class in bee- 



keeping was larger than any other in the 

 entire university. Seventy-eight persons 

 registered for the course, and nearly one 

 hundred were in attendance at some of the 

 classes. The interest was unflagging, al- 

 though Prof. Jager was kept busy with 

 classes continuously from eight in the morn- 

 ing until five in the afternoon, some days. 



When the college officials of other states, 

 or members of the legislature, tell the bee-' 

 keepers that there is no demand for any- 

 thing in our line, just point to Minnesota. 



Atlantic, Iowa. 



WHO PAYS THE FREIGHT? 



BY J. M. DONALDSON 



We were passing a large grocery in the 

 city when we noticed a very fine disj^lay of 

 comb and extracted honey. The comb was 

 in Danzenbaker sections, and would all 

 gi'ade " Fancy," price 25 ets. The extract- 

 ed was a good gxade of light honey, and 

 was put up in a very neat container. It 

 was also 25 cts. 



I said, " Bill, it's not often you see as 

 nice a display as that." 



" That's true all right ; but do you know 

 I don't blame the city chaps for not using 

 more honey? The price of those sections is 

 not so bad; but when it comes to paying 

 25 ets. for a jar of extracted like those, then 

 I renig. My honey was much nicer than 

 that, and all I got for it was 7 cts. I don't 

 think those jars will hold more than 12 oz. 

 of honey. They are marked 11 oz., and 

 they are cheap at that price. Have you any 

 idea of what it costs to put up a package 

 like that? " 



"No, I have not ; but with your experience 

 you should. Now listen. Bill," I added, "the 

 fellow who bottled those goods probably 

 paid 7V^ or 8 cts. per pound to the beekeep- 

 er. Now, before he could set his selling 

 price he must add to the price of his honey, 

 freight and carting charges, the price of his 

 bottles, corks, caps, labels, and packing- 

 cases. Then there comes tlie wages, rent, 

 insurance, business lax, and interest on 

 money invested. He must also make allow- 

 ance for bad debts and breakage. Bottlers 

 are not in business for their health; so he 

 must figure on a little profit. After the 

 bottler comas the jobber, then the retailer. 

 They get tlieir profit. There in the window 

 are the goo<ls, waitinc' for Mi\ ronsiiniei- to 

 foot the bill." 



"I will admit that, when you take tliose 

 things in considerationj I cannot see where 



there is as much profit on those goods as I 

 thought there was; but here is what sticks 

 me-— what sense is there in using such a 

 costly package? Why not use tin buckets 

 or Mason jai-s? Then they could give the 

 consumer more for his money." 



" There are several reasons. Just look in 

 that window. There are sauces, pickles, 

 jams, jellies, meats, and even fish put up in 

 fancy glass jars, and some of the jars cost 

 more than the goods they contain. You know 

 that a great many people choose their food, 

 first by looks, then come quality and quan- 

 tity. Fancy packages are what they de- 

 mand, and those you must give them. 



" There is another reason why you could 

 not use Mason jars or tin pails. Grocers 

 will not handle packages that are daubed 

 with honey, nor do they want it granulated. 

 Those jars are sealed air-tight, and are 

 never sticky. The honey will remain lique- 

 fied for a long time." 



" How is it that you can sell honey that 

 way if the grocers can't?" he inquired. 



" That is easily explained. I am selling 

 direct to the family trade. My honey is 

 consumed before it has time to granulate. 

 Then I explain to each new customer that 

 hone}' will granulate, and why it does. I 

 also tell them to keep it in a warm dry 

 place." 



"Say, Donaldson, be honest about this; 

 can't you sell a little cheaper than you do? 

 At 50 cents a quart, allowing you 5 cts. for 

 the jars, that leaves you 15 cts. a pound for 

 the honey, and you know you could not get 

 that price if you sold wholesale." 



"I know that," T replied; "but let nip 

 tell you that wlien I liave to bottle honey 

 iuid retail it at whole.'^ale prices I'll quit the 

 l)upiness and devote my time to sometliiiig 

 that will i^ay. If I do the bottling and re- 



