Sept. 24, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



615 



what is known as an agency, so that nearly all the product 

 can be sold through one medium." 



In April last we formed what is known as the California 

 Fruit Agency, which was a combination of the two. The 

 outside shippers forming themselves together and fixed the 

 prices for packing and putting the fruit on board the cars, 

 thereby becoming nothing but packers virtually, and the 

 California Fruit Exchange retaining its membership and 

 running its business as it had been doing. 



This last year you may hear of as a disastrous year. I 

 want to say to you it was largely due to two or three facts. 

 We must all admit that sometimes climatic conditions are 

 such that we do not grow as good fruits as others. I do not 

 know whether that occurs in producing honey or not. I 

 suppose it is all sweet, and sticky, and you never have any 

 poor honey. But some years we have better fruit than 

 others, and this last year we didn't have as good fruit by 

 far as fhe average California fruit. This condition led the 

 growers to believe if they would hold off they could get bet- 

 ter prices. A great many growers held off, and all waited 

 until late in the season. A great many were deceived in re- 

 gard to the amount we had. Up to the first of May we had 

 shipped less, but during the month of May we shipped a 

 larger number of oranges out of California than we had 

 ever shipped before in the history of the industry. It was a 

 mistake to hold back. We missed out on the market, and 

 the consequence was that all over the United States oranges 

 sold lower than for years, and the fruit did not carry as well. 



I will venture to say, if you will go over this entire 

 country, you will find that those who have not received 

 good returns can lay it to the fact that they held the fruit 

 and shipped it late. A proper distribution is a wonderful 

 thing for the producer, and if you can so arrange what you 

 produce that you can put it out during the period it is con- 

 sumed, you can get better results than to crowd it all into a 

 short space of time. 



I do not know that I can say anything more to the bee- 

 men, only this : That if the bee-men of this State, or of 

 the United States, would get together on a plan of coopera- 

 tion, I dare say you will have no trouble in getting good 

 results and good prices for your honey. Without co-opera- 

 tion, I can only see how once in awhile a man can get the 

 results that he would get if all combined and worked to- 

 gether. A single individual may want to stand out. Do 

 not stand out in the organizing because of one or two men 

 that are not willing to come in. If they won't all work 

 together, get together as many as you can, and, if you can, 

 transact your own business, get fair results, and do it at a 

 medium cost. 



The old-line packers used to get 45 and SO percent for 

 putting it on board cars ; they used to charge 10 percent 

 commission for handling the fruit. Since the organization 

 of the Southern California Fruit Exchange we have reduced 

 the cost — the net cost. The cost of labor has advanced, 

 material is reduced about 2'^ cents a box, but we have re- 

 duced the entire cost IS to 18 cents a box. That means a 

 saving of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the growers. 

 We have reduced the cost on an average to about 6 or 7 cents 

 per bos — the entire cost, I am speaking about ; so you can 

 see what we have accomplished by organization, and what 

 we have saved the growers and producers. 



If you will organize and select good men to transact 

 your business, there is no reason in the world why the 

 honey-producers of this country should not make as good a 

 record as the orange growers have done in Southern Cali- 

 fornia. J. A. Reed. 

 [Continued next week. ) 



Proceedings of the Texas Bee-Keepers' Conven- 

 tion Held at the A. & M. Collegre, at College 

 Station, July 8 to 10, 1903. 



BY LOUIS H. SCHOI,!,, SEC. 



(Continued from page 591.) 



TEXAS APICULTURE A PROFITABLE INDUSTRY. 



First, I wish to say that, according to the last census, 

 Texas is now the leading State in the production of honey 

 and the value of apiarian products. According to the cen- 

 sus, Texas produced, in 1899, 4,780,204 pounds of honey and 

 159.690 pounds of beeswax, with a value of $468,527. The 

 n umber of farms reported keeping bees was 60,043, and the 

 number of colonies kept was 392,644. Texas leads in the 

 production of honey by over one million pounds. Bee-keep- 

 ers from other States are learning of the vast honey-re- 

 sources of Texas, and are coming every year, and soon I 



expect to see all the territory covered by bee-keepers. Great 

 numbers of bees are being brought into the State, and all 

 bee-keepers are increasing their present stock, so that it is 

 only a matter of a few years until the territory will be 

 stocked. 



The industry is also a profitable one. Colonies yielding 

 from SO to 150 pounds of honey a year, which sells at from 

 5 to 9 cents per pound, so that the income is considerable. 

 The value of the yearly increase, and the value of the bees- 

 wax, ought to keep up the expenses of the apiary, so that the 

 honey money may be considered as that much above ex- 

 penses. 



The farmer who cultivates one hundred acres in cot- 

 ton will make, perhaps, if everything is favorable, some 35 

 bales of cotton, worth about $8.00 per bale profit, on an 

 average, or $280 gain for the year; the stockman, with his 

 1000 acres, may make f 1000 clear in some years. In other 

 years, he has to feed, and low prices for beef cause him to 

 make nothing. The physician may book $3000, and perhaps 

 may collect $1500 ; the truck-grower may make from $1000 

 to $2000 in some years on his melons, beans, onions, and 

 cabbage, and then a succession of drouths and he loses all 

 he has made. The lawyer may get some good fees, and 

 make a handsome amount of money. Then, again, in some 

 other years the citizens are so law-abiding that he almost 

 starves to death. But, gentlemen, the bee-man never has a 

 failure, never knows any want, but with his 1000 colonies 

 rarely ever clears less than $5000. 



In nearly all parts of Texas bee-keeping pays, yet it pays 

 best in Southwest Texas, where the conditions are especially 

 favorable, and where the flora is best adapted to the bees. 

 Southwest Texas has never known an entire failure, some- 

 thing that can not be said of any other State, to my knowl- 

 edge. There is always a crop of honey, more or less, so that 

 the industry may be said to be a stable one, and one on 

 which you may depend upon for a good living in Southwest 

 Texas. I believe Southwest Texas to be the best bee-coun- 

 try in the world. 



In Southwest Texas there are millions of acres of land 

 on which there are no bees to cover it, and consequently 

 there are millions of pounds of honey going to waste an- 

 nually. There is plenty of unoccupied territory, and it only 

 awaits the coming of the bee-man with his bees, to be in- 

 deed and in truth the greatest honey country on earth. 



In coming to Southwest Texas, we would ask that you 

 first come and look for yourself, and then pick an unoccu- 

 pied location where there will be no kicks from the man 

 who is already established. It is not only not right, but it 

 is pound foolish, to put down bees near another man when 

 there is so much unoccupied territory as there is in South- 

 west Texas. 



In conclusion, I invite all who wish a pleasant and 

 profitable business to come to Southwest Texas and engage 

 in bee-keeping, starting in with a limited number and in- 

 creasing your bees as you learn the business. We have 

 good faith in the industry in our part of the country, and 

 we invite all doubters to come and see for themselves. 

 O. P. Hyde. 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS. 



Resolved, That we, the Texas Bee-Keepers' Association, 

 in regular session assembled, extend our thanks to the re- 

 tiring officers for the faithful way they have discharged 

 their duties. 



Resolved, That we request our Secretary to extend all 

 aid possible to organize branch and local bee-keepers' asso- 

 ciations, and assist those already organized. 



Resolved, That we extend our thanks to Pres. J. H. 

 Connell and Prof. B. C. Pittuck, Secretary, for the faithful 

 way in which they have arranged the entire proceedings, 

 and for their untiring effort to entertain all who attend the 

 meetings of the Farmers' Congress. 



Resolved. That we extend our thanks to our entomolo- 

 gist. Prof. E. D. Sanderson, and to his assistant, E. H. 

 SchoU, for the great interest they have taken in our work, 

 and assisting us in every way possible. 



Resolved, That we extend our thanks to Prof. F. W. 

 Mally, Prof. E. B. Sanderson, and Prof. Wilmon Newell, 

 for their speeches on thorough organization, etc., and for 

 assisting us in other ways. 



Resolved, That every member of the Texas Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association feels that we are fully paid for our time and 

 expenses for our visit to the bee-keepers' convention and the 

 Farmers' Congress. O. P. Hyde, ) 



W. H. White, - Co7n. 

 Z. S. Weaver, \ 



