494 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Aug. 15 



General 

 Correspondence 



HONEY LOWER IN PRICE THAN OTHER 

 FOODS. 



The Price Could be Raised by a Vigorous 

 Organized Effort. 



BY J. E. CRANE. 



Mr. Root: — Enclosed is a letter^I recently 

 received from W. J. Lewis, of St. Louis. He 

 makes some pretty good points that may be 

 of interest. The advertisement he refers to, 

 of pineapples, is found in the January issue 

 of World's Work, and a good one it is. I 

 fear we have not sufficient money to adver- 

 tise so fully; but may be it would be well to 

 try it. 



Middlebury, Vt. 



[The following is the letter which Mr. 

 Crane mentions. We believe it is worthy 

 of the attention of every reader. — Ed.] 



Mr. J. E. Crane.— You speak of Wesley Foster's ex- 

 perience in selling- honey, and remark that you have 

 sometimes thought it would pay to organize and place 

 peddlers (solicitors i in every city of any size in the 

 country. We think there should be more written or 

 said on the subject of selling honey, in our bee jour- 

 nals. 



We took up bee culture five or six years ago as a 

 novelty or pastime; but ii has become a "side line " 

 now, as we have 200 colonies. Like all bee-men we 

 studied every thing we could get hold of as to how to 

 raise more bees to produce more honey; but now the 

 problem is how to get a fair price for the product. 



We think we get less for our time spent with our 

 bees than for any thing we follow; and if it were not 

 for the love we liave for the business we would soon 

 drop it. 



If the bee-men would organize and place a price on 

 their product as the Elgin butter-makers do, it would 

 not be long before 4 lbs. of honey would be worth more 

 than one of butter. Think of honey being dumped in 

 this city at five or six cents a pound! 

 . The big bakers and candy-makers are the ones who 

 derive the benefit from the low prices instead of the 

 man who occasionally buys a small amount of honey 

 for table use. You say the grocers "do not seem to 

 like to push the honey trade." They don't care to 

 handle honey, because the producers of it never help 

 push it. Who ever heard of the honey-producers ad- 

 vertising in a newspaper? Americans eat whatever 

 they are told to eat by the advertisements in the press. 

 They don't eat honey, because nothing is ever said 

 about it where the subject is constantly before them. 



Comb honey is sent to the commission man in the 

 same old style of glass-front cases that it was sent in 

 25 years ago. The city grocer having a small trade 

 generally keeps a case just to be able to say that he has 

 honey in stock. It is not because he wants to handle 

 It. He usually keeps it away back in some corner, out 

 of the reach of flies. You may ask how the producers 

 of honey can better themselves. You have touched 

 the keynote— by organization, then advertising. We 

 inclose an advertisement from an association of pine- 

 apple growers in far-away Hawaii. Think of this 

 handful of men pushing their product before the peo- 

 ple of this country, and compare it with the old sleepy 

 ideas of the great army of bee-keepers! 



We manage to sell our honey at a fair price when 

 compared to what others get, and we are certain we 

 could get more if there were more working on the same 

 basis for a better price. We receive as much as 18 cts. 

 per section for our honey from the grocers, who would 

 rather handle it at a small profit and at a high price, 

 because we help them to put it before the people with 

 our guarantee on every section. 



In our opinion, those who write for the bee journals 

 should take up this matter. If we depended entirely 

 on the production of honey for our living we certainly 

 wpgld want to be better paid for our time. A plaster- 



er working 8 hours in this town earns $6.00 to $7.00 per 

 day — enough to buy 60 to 70 pounds of the best honey. 

 A bricklayer would get almost as many pounds for 

 one day's wages. The candy-maker buys honey at 6 

 cts., makes it into Mexican penoche, and sells it at 40 

 cts. per pound. He ought to pay more for the honey. 

 I don't think the bee-keeper is getting a square deal; 

 besides, he is getting stung often. 

 St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 9. W. J. Lewis. 



[Some years ago an effort was made by 

 bee-keepers and supply manufacturers to 

 form a honey-producers' organization which 

 would have for its main object the advertis- 

 ing of honey. A large fund was subscribed, 

 the proceeds from which were to be used for 

 advertising honey in the popular journals. 

 But about this time a few bee-keepers began 

 to be suspicious that the manufacturers of 

 supplies were too much interested, and that 

 there was a sinister motive back of the 

 whole proposition. There was absolutely 

 nothing in this; but the movement was check- 

 mated, and it was finally decided to turn the 

 funds that were gathered all over to the 

 National Bee-keepers' Association and have 

 only one organization. This was eminently 

 proper, but no provision made for some one 

 to take hold of the advertising end of it; Mr. 

 France, General Manager, was already over- 

 burdened with other work of the National, 

 and, as a result, comparatively little could be 

 done in the way of advertising honey. There 

 is still a fund available, we believe; and if 

 the members of the National will formulate 

 a plan, the suggestions of Mr. Lewis, at least 

 in part, could be carried out. There is no 

 reason why honey should not be advertised 

 as it should be. — Ed.] 



SHAKING ENERGY INTO BEES. 



Not Shaking, but a Change of Conditions; 



is a Natural Swarm Superior to an 



Ordinary Colony of the 



Same Strength? 



BY W. M. WHITNEY. 



Mr. Editor: — Your comments on an item 

 from me on page 285, May 1, also on page 313, 

 May 15, prefacing an article by Mr. Geo. W. 

 Williams on the same subject, viz., shaking 

 bees to cure laziness, seems to call for a 

 more explicit statement from me. By the 

 way, accept thanks for kindly reference to 

 my bee-keeping ability. Whether merited 

 or not, I appreciate the compliment. 



In the particular case referred to on page 

 285, the account given put the case clearly, 

 it seems to me, and required no further elu- 

 cidation. More room being given the bees 

 (their environment was completely changed) 

 and this appeared to be all tnat was needed. 

 What, think you, would have been accom- 

 plished had they been shaken and put back 

 m the same condition as before? 



Other cases of apparent sulking occur, 

 such as when a colony has cast a swarm, 

 which condition ceases as soon as the young 

 queen assumes the functions of the mother- 

 bee; also in case where the queen is being 

 superseded. Any shaking of the bees in 



