242 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



April 19, 1900. 



school-desk — all of which shut out fresh air and sunshine, 

 until pallor and langfuor points sadly to departing health 

 and vigor — would seek apiculture as an avocation, we might 

 have, instead of pale, wan cheeks, roses and blooming 

 health. 



'* Ask not for life of ease, but ask 



From strength to strengrth to grow. 

 Pray not to measure out your task 



By powers that you may show; 

 But ask for powers to meet demands. 



For love that knows no strife. 

 For crystal vision, tireless hands — 

 A better self for life." 



Richland Co., Wis. 



How to Raise the Price of Honey. 



BY JOHN R. SCHMIDT. 



DURING these days of advancement in the prices of 

 material of all kinds, and bee-keepers' supplies being 

 no exception, more ought to be said in the columns of 

 our bee-papers regarding how we may advance the price of 

 honey in order that the ever-advancing prices of supplies, 

 which have already reacht an unwelcome figure, may be com- 

 pensated for. 



It is true that within a year or so prices of honey have 

 advanced somewhat, and bee-T«eepers are rejoicing univer- 

 sally ; but so have the supplies advanced, and we are only 

 too willing to look upon one side of the book only where 

 there seems to be a gain. But what has caused this rise in 

 the market, both in the price of honey and also in the sup- 

 plies ? Has there not been a scarcity of honey, and are we 

 not told that the lumber districts are fast diminishing, and 

 monopolies and trusts are controlling almost every useful 

 article that is in demand ? We know that overproduction 

 tends to lower the price, and failure to meet the demand 

 raises the price. This is just what has caused the advance- 

 ment in the price of honey, and is also true in the other 

 case ; but will the prices of supplies continue to advance ? 

 Most assuredly they will. W'e can not replace our timber 

 in a few years, which is now rapidly becoming less and 

 less, nor can we hope to abolish monopolies and trusts — 

 they are a " good thing " for the people who form them, and 

 are the natural result of keen competition. So long as 

 manufacturers combine to protect themselves against fail- 

 ure, bankruptcy and the " cut throat " prices which would 

 prevail among them were it not for such an agreement of 

 combination, so long will the prices continue to rise, and 

 trusts continue to form. Therefore, we can not expect to 

 find relief by abolishing, but can only hope to control them. 



If prices are bound to advance in supplies, and no hopes 

 are given us of ever expecting to see those much-needed 

 articles cataloged at the old familiar prices, how are we to 

 compensate for this increase in expenditure, and raise the 

 price of our honey accordingly ? This is a question which is 

 of vital importance, and one which should ever be in the 

 minds of those interested in the production of honey. 



It is true, as I have said, that prices have advanced, but 

 this advancement was the result of a scarcity of honey, and 

 when after a good season the market will again be flooded 

 and prices will drop to their former figure, then there will 

 again be the old complaint of low prices, from all quarters. 

 But how are we to maintain the present price and continue 

 the advancement ? There is only one way. Bee-keepers, 

 like farmers, can not form trusts or combines, and it is im- 

 possible to corner the honey crop, so we must appeal to the 

 bee-keepers themselves. 



It is the unconquerable desire among bee-keepers to 

 market their honey as soon as it is harvested, and " the 

 sooner the better " is the only thing thought of. This is 

 just where a very, very great mistake is made ; as a result 

 honey becomes a drug upon the market, and low prices 

 reign. To make matters still worse, "quotations" are 

 given which tend to drop rather than rise. This causes the 

 bee-keeper to ship his honey immediately for fear of losing 

 a few cents per pound if he holds on to it any longer. After 

 it is all sold he begins to realize the low figures which his 

 honey sold for, and often this is where the commission man 

 comes in for a good " raking," if I may be allowed to use 

 the expression. 



This year, or the past, has been a good one for the ad- 

 vancement of prices on honey, and owing to the scarcity 

 and the " holding back " of large quantities, a better price 

 was commanded, and it was gladly given. This is the only 

 way we can maintain the price in the future, and the key- 

 note of success has been sounded in some of our periodicals, 

 warning those who have honey to hold on to it and ask a 

 higher price. Some say that necessity compels them to sell 



as soon as it is ready for the market. This necessity is the 

 result of the bee-keeper's thoughtlessness in the beginning. 

 Why not sell only in small quantities, and still have a good 

 supply unsold for late winter and early spring demand, in- 

 stead of rushing the whole crop off at once, getting your 

 money all at once, and, as a result, an empty pocket-book 

 and no bank account later on, which again forces the com- 

 ing crop upon the market. 



Honey that I sold for 13 cents early last fall would now 

 find a ready sale at 18 cents. Hereafter, my small crop of 

 honey will sell at a good price in the beginning, or remain 

 stored until I get my price. 



Small bee-keepers who do not depend upon apiculture 

 alone for a livelihood have much to do with setting the 

 price of honey, and it is to them that we must appeal. They 

 are the ones who often supply the grocery trade in the 

 vicinity in which they live. Often in early fall they bar- 

 gain to supply the small demand of the grocer at a low 

 figure just to have their honey move off quickly; and im- 

 mediately this price becomes the standard with that grocer, 

 and he is unwilling to give the professional a higher price, 

 because he can buj' all the honey his trade calls for at a 

 lower figure. 



Now, how are we going to remedy this ? It can only be 

 done by calling bee-keepers' attention to this very impor- 

 tant question, and keeping it constantly before them. This 

 we can only do thru our papers and conventions. Then 

 when we begin to learn that in union only there is strength, 

 arid that we must work together for mutual benefit, and not 

 each one for himself, the time will be near at hand when 

 the fond hopes of the bee-keeper for higher prices will be 

 realized. Hamilton Co., Ohio. 



Detecting' the Initial Stag-e of Foul Brood. 



BY F. GORDON. 



I AM a member of a reading circle that takes several 

 American bee-papers, the American Bee Journal among 

 them. For long I have been musing, the fire is kindled, 

 and at last I feel I must speak with my tongue — subject, 

 foul brood. 



I congratulate you that some parts, at any rate, of your 

 land seem to be so free from it that many bee-keepers do 

 not recognize it in its incipient stages. I refer especially 

 to page 819 (1899), in the proceedings of the Utah bee-keep- 

 ers' convention. "Mr. Lovesy, in giving his experience 

 with foul brood, opened up anew field of investigation," etc. 



For the benefit of the craft, let me urge upon you that 

 this field has been investigated long ago, and the " back 

 presentation " of larvae in their cells that he refers to is the 

 recognized orthodox first stage of foul brood, and the only 

 stage in which drug treatment will be at all satisfactory. 



Tho Mr. Cowan's " Guide-Book " leaves room for more 

 light, still this stage is accurately described therein. I have 

 been to hives, with a spray diffuser of phenyle mixture, 

 searcht their brood-nests thru ; and if I found one single 

 larva, atnid a hive of healthy brood, showing me its back 

 instead of being curled round in the normal manner, I 

 would say to myself, " foul brood," and apply the medicinal 

 spray forthwith. Many times I have had the gloomy privi- 

 lege of watching the disease develop from such beginnings, 

 thru the yellow to the coffee-color pulp that draws out, and 

 beyond that to the dried-up scale half way down the cell. 

 /« cases I have seen the disease arrested at the " restless 

 larva " or " back presentation " stage, but whether by the 

 phenyle sprinkling, or by a good honey-flow, I do not care 

 to say. 



Referring to the well-known photograph of a badly dis- 

 eased comb that is publisht, I am impelled to say that it 

 may, instead of being a help to the novice, become most 

 misleading, in fact is almost bound to be so. The disease 

 depicted there is bad — very bad — and any careful bee-keeper 

 of two years standing or less, who knows the look and scent 

 of a healthy brood-nest, could not fail to perceive something 

 seriously wrong if he discovered one of his hives in such a 

 putrid state as that, even without the aid of any photograph 

 or instructioon. But to wait for such an appearance before 

 recognizing foul brood is a most lamentable mistake. The 

 disease has then had at least three tveeks visible run, possi- 

 bly several months, and is past the redemption point, fit 

 only for the fire and the spade. 



I said " visible," for how long the disease had lain dor- 

 mant nobody knows. But the bee-keeper could have seen 

 it three weeks before, and perhaps saved his combs as well 

 as the adult bees. 



Mr. Simmins, editor of Bee-Chat, gives a still more 



