50 



THE A3IERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



March 



because we always manage to keep an 

 over-load at the great emporiums 

 where the market price is made; be- 

 cause so many of our greatest honey 

 producers manage to dump their crops 

 into the large cities at the same time, 

 and establish a price that those who 

 would supply the smaller cities and 

 towns are bound to compete with. 



The market price is bound to be the 

 ruling price. You used just as much 

 coffee when it was twenty-five cents 

 per pound as you do now when it is 

 twelve cents. You paid the twenty-five 

 cents with as good grace as you do the 

 twelve. Why? Simply because it is 

 the market price. If a grocer was to 

 ask you tv/enty-five cents for a pound 

 of coffee ROW, when it's selling for 

 twelve, we would think he was a rogue, 

 and was trying to cheat us. So it is 

 with honey; if you try wholesaling 

 your honey at a higher price than that 

 quoted from the trade centres, the peo- 

 ple think you are trying to "work 

 them." 



It is often advanced that the care- 

 less, slovenly bee-keeper, with his un- 

 tidy and unattractive honey has played 

 a very prominent part in spoiling our 

 honey market. Now, I do not believe 

 that. He cannot be blamed for selling 

 his honey at a low price. He is selling 

 it in open competition with finer honey, 

 and the contrast of his honey adds to 

 the appearance of that with which he 

 has to compete. He is lucky to sell it 

 at any price. At all events, he is a 

 very small factor in swaying the gen- 

 eral market either way. Neither has 

 the bee-keeper who goes to town with 

 a load of honey and sells it for what he 

 can get, to do with injuring the general 

 honey market. The bee-keeper who 

 manages to sell his honey for a few 

 cents per pound in advance of the mar- 

 ket price, may consider himself lucky. 

 But like the slovenly bee-keeper with 

 his untidy honey, he, too, is a small 

 factor in raising the general market 

 price. 



It has been argued that the adulter- 

 ators of our product have wrought the 



ruin of our honey market. Now, I be- 

 lieve that adulteration has injured the 

 honey business, but I doubt if it has 

 played the important part in lowering 

 the price in the general market that 

 has been chargied up to it. But, be 

 that as it may, the remedy that will 

 correct the other evils of the honey 

 market, will correct this one, too. 



The cause that has been pre-emineii! 

 in lowering the price of honey b;i> 

 been the competition among the coiu 

 mission men and dealers. Nearly evei > 

 large city has a number of commission 

 houses where produce of all kinds 

 honey included, is sold on commission 

 As soon as the honey harvest is over 

 nearly all the bee-keepers within a 

 radius of 150 to 200 miles of these cities 

 ship their honey to these commission 

 men. As a result, within an incredible 

 short time after the honey harvest, 

 every commission house is overloaded 

 with honey that must be disposed of. 

 Now I believe the majority of these 

 commission men are honest, conscien- 

 tious men, who do what they think is 

 best under the circumstances. Com- 

 mission man A will start comb honey 

 at 15 cents per pound and extracted at 

 10 cents. Commission man B says I 

 have a big lot of honey on hand, I 

 will make it % cent lower, and make a 

 run and get rid of my load. C says I 

 have got to get rid of my load some 

 way. I make it another 1/2 cent lower. D 

 says I have a big lot on hand, and it 

 takes up my room, too. I believe it 

 would be better for me and the owners 

 of this honey, too, for me to make a 

 quick job of it and get it out of my way 

 and get them their money; I will just 

 run this off at 1 cent lower than those 

 other fellows. This haggling is kept 

 up until about all the bee-keeper gets 

 out of his summer of hard work is the 

 little bit of glory he can get out of it. 



Another very important factor in 

 lowering the general price of honey, is 

 the cheap sweets, such as sugar and 

 syrups, with which it has to compete. 



There are two or three other agents 

 that are more or less hurtful, but I will 



