1020 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



small price after the parties knew I was 

 preparing- to begin action ag-ainst them. 

 That was sufficient "commission man " 

 Then I tried selling- to jobbers in near-bj' 

 cities, with only partial success. The home 

 market was worked for all it was worth, 

 but still a large part of the honey each year 

 remains in my warehouse. As a last resort 

 I have for some years g-otten some old bee- 

 keeper with an established custom to dis- 

 pose of it; but he must be paid. 



Further, within the last year two of my 

 best customers (trusts, by the way) have 

 ceased to buy, since they are only branches 

 of a large organization, and the central 

 offices of each in Chicago handle all the 

 honey they use. "With me, at least, the mar- 

 ket narrows down each year. 



I have been so discourag-ed and disg-usted 

 at times that I felt like throwing my crop 

 outdoors. 



Certainly some one will endeavor to soothe 

 me by advising-, "This state of affairs is 

 due to over-production, and can't be avoid- 

 ed." That has been said to me; but I am 

 a long- way from believing it. My experi- 

 ence clearly shows that it is not "over-pro- 

 duction" which sends us begging- for a mar- 

 ket, but lack of confidence in the purity of 

 what we offer to sell. Let people be assur- 

 ed that honey is pure, and it will sell fast 

 enough. Our town is but a small one, yet 

 we usually retail during- the winter about 

 2>2lbs. on an average for every person in it; 

 but these people know us. 



Right here is where an association would 

 be valuable. Every p' und (or barrel) of 

 honey bearing its seal would carry a con- 

 vincing proof of its purity, and people would 

 soon learn to buy. This, together with the 

 greater facilities of such a centralized body 

 in finding buyers, and of buyers finding sell- 

 ers, for ^hat matter, and the decreased cost 

 ( f disposing of the crop, would, in my judg- 

 ment, soon render a much larger amount of 

 honey than is now produced necessary if we 

 are to suffer from "over production." 



I note with pleasure that both Gleanings 

 and the Revicxv (papers taken by my api- 

 arist, Mr. A. D. Shepard) seem to be push- 

 ing the matter. Good! you have solved 

 most of the questions in honey production; 

 now help us to sell it and you will have our 

 lasting gratitude. 



River Falls, Wis. 



CO=OPERATION AMONG BEE-KEEPERS. 



Getting Aid from the Government. 



R. POUCH. PRESIDENT IDAHO BEE- 

 KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



In regard to your query about co-opera- 

 tion and further organization of the frater- 

 nity, I heartily endorse such a move, and the 

 organized socities in our Sttite are rapidly 

 mobilizing on these lines. As soon as we 

 reach the strength and development of the 

 Colorado brethren (which will come with 

 increased population) we will undoubtedly 



work on the same general plan. In the co- 

 operative method we have the most rational 

 system for our National organization. Let 

 each State organize closely and look after 

 matters of legislation, gathering statistics, 

 and to be rep' rted by them to the National 

 Association, the National Secretary to report 

 each week to all the bee papers in the 

 United States on the general plan of Brad- 

 street or Dun — the old crop; prospects by 

 sections; prices, etc. 



The commission man should be eliminat- 

 ed, selling through a very few agents in the 

 principal centers of distribution, they to be 

 under the control of the General Manager 

 of the National Association, who will be 

 best informed of the needs of the market, 

 and have the honey shipped where most 

 needed. 



The money paid out annually to the com- 

 mission men would more than pay all the 

 cost, including rent of warehouse, etc. We 

 would benefit by keeping the market well 

 in hand and knowing exactly what the crop 

 is, practically eliminating the competitive 

 system. I think aid might be secured from 

 the Government, making our statistical de- 

 partment a branch of the Agricultural De- 

 partment, which would help cover the ex- 

 pense. A closely allied system of State or- 

 ganizations formed on the same general 

 plan, looking to a general head in the Na- 

 tional organization, is the secret of our fu- 

 ture success. 



Parma, Ida., Nov. 24, 1902. 



THE BASSWOOD TOP=BAR QUESTION EXPLAINED 



When do Queens Supersede ? 



BY G. C. GREINER. 



When Dr. Miller and our Naples brother 

 gave their experience and passed their 

 judgment on bass wood top bars I felt like 

 shouting "Amen!" for it was exactly my 

 experience too, although not to such a strik- 

 ing degree as Dr. Miller's, whose top-bars 

 must have crawled by this time into some 

 neighboring bee-yard. I was not only an 

 eye-witness to my brother's basswood trou- 

 ble, but I had a hand in it myself. I cut 

 the timber, drew the logs to the mill, had 

 them sawed, and handled the lumber; and 

 after it was seasoned we manufactured and 

 used the frames. Without exaggerating 

 very much I can say that these top-bars 

 twisted to such an extent that, when the 

 one tenon lay flat on the rabbet, the other 

 would stand, not quite perpendicular, but 

 somewhere near an angle of 45 deg-rees. 

 If by any means one of these frames was 

 made to swing it would take some time be- 

 fore it would find ils equilibrium — just the 

 nicest thing for the bees to have a free 

 swing. 



Being thoroughly disgusted with this per- 

 formance of our basswood lumber we decid- 

 ed there and then to discard, for all time to 

 come, that kind of lumber for top-bars. 



