1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



517 



come to them. I am not sure that manj'^ 

 people want to come to this island; and if 

 they do they would be intellig'ent enoug-h 

 to seek a place that is not already stocked 

 with bees. I am sure there is plenty of 

 room in other portions of the island, and 

 perhaps better pasturage than you have. 

 Then there is another fact. If this island 

 is a great honey-producer the world will 

 know it soon enough. The light can not be 

 hidden." 



"But 3'ou must agree," said the Beaver, 

 "that there is a chance for overstocking the 

 field." 



"Remember, Mr. Rambler," said Bro. 

 Howe, "that Cuba is only about as large 

 as Pennsylvania. It won't stand much 

 crowding." 



And Somerford kept right along talking. 



"Well, gentlemen," said I, "if it should 

 come to an overcrowding point you will 

 have to organize a board of arbitration to 

 settle all such matters; and as to overpro- 

 duction of hone}% that is an impossibility'." 



"Impossible? " said Howe. 



"Impossible?" said Beaver. 



Somerford talked. 



"Impossible," said I. "To prove it, let 

 me give you some figures. We have 75,000.- 

 000 people in the United States, and onl}' 



150,000,000 lbs. of honey for them, or only 

 2 lbs. per capita. You must readily ob- 

 serve that, with proper distribution, it 

 would take several Cubas to produce honey 

 enough to go around." 



"Well, but how are you going to distrib- 

 ute it?" said Beaver. 



"Why," said Howe, "don't you see that 

 is where the Rambler's great international 

 honey company comes in to help us out?" 



And Somerford kept right along talking. 



"Certainly," said I; "there is a chance 

 for the work of a honey company ; but a 

 company works for a limited number. Let 

 me show you something better. Upon a 

 rough estimate there are some 300,000 bee- 

 keepers in the States and Cuba. Now sup- 

 pose 100,000 of these put up $1.00 each and 

 Ijecome members of the National Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association. I think it is agreed that 

 we need a strong central organization as 

 never before, and you can readily imagine 

 what great results could be accomplished 

 with the above sum. 



"But just witness the fact," said Beaver, 

 "that it is hard work to get even 1000 mem- 

 bers for the Association. 



"Yes," said Howe, "I sometimes think 

 that bee-keepers are the least progressive 

 of any of the rural workers." 



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