1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



569 



were quoting in the bee-papers 13 cents per pound for fancy 

 comb honey — the correct market price. Along come a new 

 firm — who may appropriately be called Snide <fe Co. — who 

 privately quote the same grade of honey at 15 cents per 

 pound. A bee-keeper ships to them 1(),000 pounds. The 

 honey arrives, and Snide & Co. take it to their store. We 

 happen along just after it is unloaded, and Mr. Snide offers to 

 sell us the honey for 11 or 12 cents per pound. We buy it, 

 of course, for it is one or two cents less per pound than the 

 shipper would have thought of letting us have it for. 



Well, what does the shipper get for his honey from Snide 

 <fc Co.? He gets probably a net price of !:• or 10 cents per 

 pound — perhaps in some cases not so much, and sometimes 

 "gets left" entirely- -is simply euchred out of the whole thing. 



Who is to blame that the producer didn't realize more for 

 his honey ? Why, the bee-keeper himself. He lacked sense. 

 He was foolish enough to think that a Jieiw firm could secure 

 better prices than an old and established one that quotes 

 actual market prices. 



And thus are the toiling bee-keepers swindled by various 

 firms, all of whom should be compelled to wear the name of 

 " Snide & Co.," so that bee-keepers would know, after a few 

 expensive experiences, that all lirms by that name are really 

 sjiides, and are to be avoided as one would shun the smallpox. 



But will honey-producers ever be wise in these matters? 

 Yes, some will, but many will plod on and fall into the same 

 old snares, time after time. Yet there is little excuse now for 

 any reader of a good bee-paper being "caught,'' for the best 

 firms generally either quote the market prices in the papers, 

 or their names are found therein, and all others should be 

 avoided, unless you wish to take your chances, or are ac- 

 quainted with them, and know that they will deal fairly. Of 

 course, the honey-shipper who doesn't take and read any of 

 the bee-papers ought to get swindled, and deserves no sympa- 

 thy if he meets with a loss that might have been avoided had 

 he been a subscriber to one or more of the best bee-papers. 



Xlie Honey Crop for 1896 is thus commented 

 upon by Editor Root in Gleanings for Aug. 15 : 



So far as we can ascertain by correspondence, the honey- 

 flow in the central and northern States has been good — much 

 better than for several years back. In the East it is not as 

 good, and in some sections it has been almost a failure. In 

 California there has been little or no honey except in the San 

 Joaquin valley. In a letter from B. F. Brooks, one of the 

 leading commission men of that State, he says the California 

 crop of honey is almost a failure. Arkansas reports an entire 

 failure of honey. This is as definite as we can make out up 

 to date, from a large number of letters as they have come 



into our office. 



■* ■ » 



California :Kotes are contributed to the monthly 

 Rural Californian, by Prof. Cook, and from those in the 

 July number we take the following : 



Holding Tons of Honey. — It is reported that Mr. J. F. 

 Mclntyre, of Ventura county, has 30 tons of first-class honey 

 in a fire-proof building. Mr. Mclntyre does not propose to sell 

 his honey until he can secure 6 cents a pound. This is none 

 too much, and we hope the time will soon come when every 

 apiarist will receive no less for his extracted product. 



Honey-Dew from Oak Trees. — We have noticed the last 

 few days that the bees seem very busy about the oak trees. 

 They are undoubtedly in quest of honey-dew. The honey 

 from this source is of poor quality, but will undoubtedly serve 

 a good purpose in sustaining the bees through the season of 

 drouth. In California, where bees can fly every week of the 

 year, there is little danger of mortality through the fact of 

 inferior honey. 



Cross Bees When Not Busy. — Bees are much like peo- 

 ple. It is hard for them to be good-natured when things do 

 not go well. Thus, in this season of no honey-production we 

 may look for cross bees unless they are handled with extraord- 

 inary care. When bees are very active, and the honey is 



being produced rapidly, we can often handle ours with safety 

 without either veil or smoke. It will not do, however, at such 

 times as these, when bees are almost idle, 10 handle them 

 without the greatest precaution. It is better at such times 

 not to handle the bees at all. It not unfrequently occurs that 

 working with the bees at such times as the present makes 

 them intolerably cross, so that they are positively dangerous 

 if they are at all near the house or roadside. 



Honey prom Pepper Trees. — The bees for the last two 

 weeks have been busy ou the pepper tree. As they are only 

 working on pistilate flowers, they are, of course, not after 

 pollen ; they must be getting a little nectar. Yet, so far as I 

 can see, they are storing very littte if any honey. I do not 

 find the least peppery taste. 1 am strongly of the opinion 

 that the strong honey often complained of and accredited to 

 pepper blossoms, comes from honey-dew. 



The Bee-Keepers' Exchange Needed. — We see by the 

 papers that a little first-class honey has been produced in 

 Orange county and sold in Santa Ana for 3K cents per pound. 

 We talk of the regulation of price by the law of supply and 

 demand — it need hardly be said that this law is entirely in- 

 operative in California in respect to honey. This season 

 almost no honey will be produced, and yet we see no advance 

 in price. Who will say that ihe Bee-Keepers' Exchange is not 

 sorely needed ? 



Freight Rates on Extracted Honey.— Mr. 



W. S. Hart, of Hawk's Park, Fla., sent the following letter to 

 Gleanings, on this subject: 



Kindly announce that, through the efforts of Mr. W. J. 

 Jarvis, of the Florida East Coast Line, the committee ap- 

 pointed at Atlanta, " to secure a reduction of freight rates on 

 honey," have succeeded in securing a reduction of the rate on 

 extracted honey to that of 6th class, which is the rate charged 

 for syrup, over all lines in Florida. I feel quite confident 

 that this reduction could have been secured over all the lines 

 of the Eastern States had both the committee and bee-keepers 

 generally brought more pressure to bear at the meeting in 

 Washington, as suggested by me. As it is, it will be quite a 

 boon to honey-producers of this State, and stand as one good 

 result of the Atlanta Bee-Keepers' Congress. 



W. S. Hakt, Chairman 0/ Cora. 



In an editorial comment on the above, Mr. Root says : 



As Mr. Hart intimates, I see no reason why the North 

 American or the Union, when it shall be reorganized, may not 

 be able, by continual hammering, to get as good legislation for 

 the whole country. If there is any place where the trite but 

 ojd adage applies, " If at first you don't succeed, try, try 

 again," it is here. There is no reason in the world why honey 

 should not be classed as syrup. Of late years it has been sold 

 at nearly the same price — so near it that it ought to go at the 

 same rate. 



Yes, when we get bee-keepers united in one grand body, 

 then, we believe, such reforms as the one mentioned by Mr. 

 Hart, will not be so difficult to obtain throughout the whole 

 country ; but so long as we have no association that can num- 

 ber at least ."1OO members, we do not look for very much suc- 

 cess in any effort, no matter how worthy it may be. Bee- 

 keepers must get together ! 



Foreign Bee-Papers. — Several bee-papers printed 

 in German, French, or Italian, have been coming to us for 

 some time, but as we read only the English, of course such 

 foreign papers are quite useless to us. Our price for the 

 American Bee Journal to foreign countries (except Canada 

 and Mexico) is §il. 50 a year, and all in such countries who 

 desire our paper must send that amount inadvancem every 

 case, for, as a rule, such foreign subscriptions are stopped 

 promptly at the end of the time paid for. 



Xhe Great Campaign Book offered on page 

 559, ought to he in the hands of every voter. It shows all 

 sides of the political questions of the day. Better send for a 

 copy of it. Orders filled by return mall. 



