43d YEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL., OCT. 29, 1903. 



No. 44. 





Editorial Comments 





Ignorance About Honey. 



An IlliDois bee-keeper, several hundred miles from Chicago, ship- 

 ped a largre barrel of honey to one of the big retail grocers in Chicago. 



On receipt of the honey, the grocer wrote the shipper that he 

 could not use it; that " it is mixed with comb, and not the same as 

 sample." 



The bee-keeper wrote us about it, and asked us to call and see 

 what could be done. We did so. And this is \yhat we found: 



The bee-keeper had sent the grocer an advance small sample of 

 the honey in //</!</</ form. He then shipped the barrel of itinr/ra?i«- 

 lated form. That was all there was to it. 



The grocer told us they had no facilities for reliquefying the 

 honey. He also thought the granulated honey was " mixed with 

 comb!" It really was the very finest grade of white clover extracted 

 honey, granulated. And he is one of the leading retail grocers in 

 Chicago 1 We think, however, that we convinced him that he was 

 mistaken about the honey being " mixed with comb.'' But he re- 

 fused to keep the honey. He didn't buy granulated honey. The 

 sample was liquid, and that was what he wanted! Wasn't it aggra- 

 vating J 



Well, what can be learned by such a transaction ? At least this : 

 When selling honey at a distance to anybody but a bee-keeper, ship 

 honey exactly like sample shown in advance. Had the sample been 

 granulated Mr. Grocer said he would not have ordered the barrel 

 ^hipped. 



The Future of Sections. 



When basswood becomes too scarce to use for one-piece sections, 

 this will be under consideration. Editor Hutchinson thinks tour- 

 piece sections the solution of the problem. He likes four-piece sec- 

 tions, himself, better than one-piece sections, and thinks Editor Root 

 would be surprised to learn how many bee-keepers there are in the 

 country who really prefer them. To this Editor Root replies: 



I am well aware that there are a few who prefer four-piece sec- 

 tions, but the Dumber is very small. Although we sell about 15,000,OUO 

 one-piece sections annually, we have not had during the past year, 

 and a heavy one at that, orders for more than 100,000 four-piece, and 

 that is mostly for our Eastern trade. We understand the (i. B. Lewis 

 Co. has had but a light trade iu them, while the W. T. Falconer Co. 

 has a much larger demand than either of us. . The four-piece goods 

 seem to have been used quite largely at one time in New York ; but 

 the impruvernents that have been made in recent years in one piece 

 sections, and in the manner of making them, have almost driven the 

 four-piece goods out of the market. 



But for all that, we may have to go back to them, as we may not 

 be able to get enough tough wood to make one-piece boxes to supply 

 the present enormous demand. Bt^tween live and ten million feet of 

 basstvood is cut every year (this is only a drop in the bucket of the 

 amount used by contractors and furniture-makers), and it would be 

 hard to find any other timber as tough, in sullicienl quantities, to lake 

 care of this enormous output. 



It may be, therefore, that we shall be compelled in the future, 

 say ten years hence, to use four-piece boxes made of some other wood. 

 Or possibly we may have lo get up some scheme whereby chunk or 

 bulk honey can be divested of every suggestion of adulteration, so 



that the general public in the cities will buy it the same as it would 

 section honey. 



However popular bulk honey may become, it will never take the 

 place of section honey with some consumers. The question of four- 

 piece or one-piece does not in the least interest the consumer, and so 

 long as the section is demanded the small difference between the two 

 kinds to the producer will probably make very little difference in the 

 amount of section honey produced. 



Quoting the Honey Market. 



From time to lime we have received criticisms on the honey and 

 beeswax market column of the American Bee .Journal. It seems the 

 quotations on honey are not satisfactory to some of our best and most 

 extensive honey-producers. At least one bee-keeper has suggested 

 that this paper was " in collusion with the commission men '' who 

 quote for its market column. But nothing could be further from 

 the truth than that. 



If any one has a better way to secure more trustworthy honey 

 market quotations than that now used, we would be very glad to 

 know what it is. We should think that those dealers in the large 

 cities, who are in close touch with the supply and demand, would 

 know best what the ruling prices of honey are, and so ought to be the 

 best able to quote prices. 



But it should be remembered that it is hardly possible to quote 

 on honey as on wheat or corn. Honey is not yet a staple article, and so 

 prices are likely to fluctuate mere, or to be less stable. There may be 

 a good demand for honey one day, and then practically no demand for 

 several days. 



We think we have had sufficient experience in the honey market- 

 ing business to have learned a few things— some things that the pro- 

 ducers in general can not possibly understand except by having a 

 similar experience. At least it seems some producers do not grasp the 

 situation from printed statements. It is much like learning the man- 

 agement of an apiary— much of it can be secured only in the apiary 

 itself, in actually doiog the manipulating. 



But, if any one can suggest a more practical way to get honey 

 market quotations, let's hear it. 



Honey-Producers' Associations or Exchanges. 



We think that such organizations, which are in the field for the 

 purpose of buying and selling bee-keepers' supplies, honey, etc., 

 should be considered on the same footing as other concerns which are 

 out for business. We see no reason why a bee-paper should be ex- 

 pected to do a lot of free advertising for such associations, and then 

 turn around and charge other concerns for the space they use, when 

 both are simply dealers. We believe in treating all fairly and 

 squarely, and expect to be accorded similar treatment in return. Bee- 

 papers can not exist on air. It takes more than wind to pay for white 

 paper, printers, office rent and office help. 



So, if a honey-producers' association is out for business — out to 

 make money for its members— and wants to trade with the readers of 

 bee-papers, such organizations should be willing to use and pay for 

 advertising space in the bee-papers, the same as do other legitimate 

 dealers. 



We are heartily in favor of the organization of co-operative 

 honey-producers' associations. We have urged their formation. We 

 have even tried to outline some methods by which we believed they 

 oould succeed. But it ought to be clearly understood that a bee- 



