June 1, 1905 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



389 



He was not present when the motion was 

 made. He afterward wrote an article con- 

 cerning proposed charitable donations for his 

 benefit, that had anything but a friendly tone. 

 He was not at the Cleveland convention — in 



fact, I never saw him after the Cincinnati 

 convention, which occurred not very long 

 after the Cleveland convention. He wrote 

 me concerning the loss of his wife, when she 

 died, and during 1873, 1 think, he wrote me 



from Washington, D. C, stating that Mr. 

 Samuel Wagner, then editor of the American 

 Bee Journal, had died that morning of heart 

 disease. This was the last time Mr. Lang- 

 stroth ever wrote to me. Rice Co., Kane. 



4- (£ontrtbiitcb ^- 

 Special Ctrticlcs 



^ 



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"The Honey-Producers' League," and Why 

 It Should Be Worthy of Our Support 



BY J. E. JOHNSON | 



HAVING sent in my dues some time ag^o to become a 

 member of The Honey-Producers' Leag-ue, I would like 

 to offer a few sus^gestions and criticisms. 

 Tiie I/eague was organized very suddenly, the bee-keep- 

 ers not being consulted or even notified, and thereby not 

 being permitted to offer any suggestions or having any say 

 whatever as to who should be the officers, and are asked to 

 contribute their dollars to help advertise honey, but have 

 no voice in the matter of how it should be done. I don't 

 believe the organizers of this League can blame beekeep- 

 ers very much if they think as I did when this was first 

 brought to my notice. In fact, it seemed to me that these 

 men did not think the bee-keepers knew enough to do busi- 

 ness for themselves, but would contribute their money if 

 they furnished the brains and carried the money-bags. 

 However, I am personally acquainted with Mr. York, Mr. 

 Hutchinson, and Dr. Miller, at least to the extent that I am 

 sure they were doing what seemed to them to be necessary, 

 and I am sure they all have the interests of the bee-keepers 

 at heart. No better men could have been chosen on the 

 Executive Board. 



Let me give an account of some experiences I have had 

 in organization. 



Five years ago I began trying to organize a farmers' 

 mutual telephone system in this locality. I first began talk- 

 ing it up among neighbors. Oh, yes, it would no doubt be 

 a fine thing, but they would not take one just yet. Some 

 would not be on a line that had any other 'phone on, and 

 each had an idea of his own as to how a line should be con- 

 structed, and nearly all differed from each other and from 

 me. I had spent considerable time and study on the tele- 

 phone question so as to adopt the proper method and be 

 sure to get started right. 



Well, I finally appointed a time for meeting, notified all 

 my neighbors, and we met, that is, 10 of us did, but we 

 could not agree on many points, so it was decided to have 

 another meeting, and in the meantime we would all seek for 

 more information and get others to come. 



At our next meeting there were only 5 present, and some 

 lived nearly 10 miles apart, so it all fell through, and they 

 gave it up. But I was determined to get the thing started, 

 so I went to a telephone constructor and made an agree- 

 ment with him to furnish everything except poles, and 

 build the line complete and install 'phones for 525 each, 

 providing I could get subscriber^ near enough together so 

 that each subscriber should furnish 16 poles, 60 steps apart, 

 and thus pole the line. 



I then went to my neighbors with a contract to that 

 effect, and I guaranteed them that if after having the 

 'phone 30 days in their houses it proved unsatisfactory, 

 they need not pay a cent. 



Well, at first only 6 'phones were installed, but the sys- 

 tem has now grown to something over 200 'phones, and we 

 have absolutely fret service with something like 2^ "00 

 'phones. We now pay only $2.00 per year at our lijrae 

 switch. Even the large cities are willing and anxious to 

 give us free exchange, as they charge the city people 15 

 cents when they call us up, so they make money in that 

 way. We just got a letter from the Peoria Indeperi<lent 

 Telephone Company, and they want to exchange with us, 

 and I don't think any one of us would give up his 'phone 

 for £100. 



Now, I did not do all this myself, but I hit the ball the 

 first real hard lick, and it has been rolling ever since. The 

 organizers of The Honey-Producers' League have hit the 



ball a whack in their own way, and it has begun to roll. 

 Let's help it along. 



To the bee-keeper with from 20 to 100 colonies, I want 

 to say your dues are not very much, and if you are bene- 

 fited only a very little you will receive more than you give. 

 And the specialist with 500 to 1000 or more colonies should 

 not hesitate to pay his share pro rata, as he is in a critical 

 period. If we have a big honey crop this year, with prices 

 already very low, and lots of old honey left over, where will 

 you be ? It is very much harder to get honey to take a raise 

 in price than it is to let it go down. 



We have a bee-keepers' association in this locality 

 called The Western Illinois. It has been growing in mem- 

 bership and interest ever since it was started, and our next 

 meeting will be Sept. 20, at the Court House in Galesburg, 

 Ills. We expect to discuss the honey-selling problem more 

 than any other question at our next meeting. It is our in- 

 tention to make arrangements to get the merchants to 

 allow us to display our honey to the best advantage in their 

 stores. The daily papers have sent their reporters to our 

 convention each time, and have given a fine report of it, 

 with large head-lines on the first page. They have treated 

 us well, and we intend in turn to treat them well, and shall 

 do some advertising of our home product. We shall wait on 

 the merchants and get them to handle our product first, and 

 if they refuse to do this we shall put a man in the field to 

 canvass our honey from house to house, and sell in case lots 

 in this and other cities, if we have an abundant crop (and 

 indications are quite fair for an abundant crop). 



A few years ago there was lots of honey shipped from 

 Chicago to these small cities, but it will be the duty of our 

 association to help sell our own crop first. Many other 

 localities are forming local organizations and will adopt 

 similar plans, perhaps. Thus Chicago and other large 

 cities will not buy nearly so much honey, as it has been 

 customary for Chicago firms to sell honey to many smaller 

 towns in this and adjoining States. If the demand becomes 

 less in the large towns, and the supply of honey should be 

 large in the Western States this year, what will be the re- 

 sult ? And I would say to the specialist, as The Honey- 

 Producers' League offers an opportunity where both the 

 specialists and the small bee-keepers can join hands and 

 help each other in this matter, don't neglect your duty, but 

 let us all pull together now, and at once. You with 1000 

 colonies are asked to contribute $50. That seems a great 

 deal, but SO bee-keepers with 20 colonies each, also con- 

 tribute $50, and they probably all sell aU their honey to 

 neighbors, and near home, while you put nearly all of your 

 honey in competition with others. 



'To the officers of the League let me say that I have 

 read very carefully the account of your Chicago meeting, 

 and the regulations or by-laws adopted, and as written by 

 Mr. Hutchinson, and, in my judgment, one of the most un- 

 wise things in it is that you decided not to advertise until 

 the treasury contained $5000, although you all admit that 

 work in this line is urgently needed at once. This seems to 

 indicate your lack of confidence in the bee-keepers them- 

 sclvcSi 



Don't blame the bee-keepers if they think in return that 

 the supply manufacturers expect to make a future raise on 

 supplies in order to get the money back they have con- 

 tributed. A small raise would more than make it up. That 

 would throw all the expense on the bee-keepers, with the 

 manufacturers carrying the money-bag and using as he or 

 the Executive Board sees fit. The manufacturer contributes 

 one-fifth of 1 percent. The bee-keeper is asked to contribute 

 $1.00 per 20 colonies, which, counting colonies to be worth 

 $3.00 apiece, is one percent, or five times the rate of the 

 manufacturer. So, don't hold too tight a grip on that 

 money-bag, but get to work and show the bee-keepers what 

 you can do, and they will give this cause their general 

 support. . 



Mistake No. 2 is for an organization with a capital of 

 $5000 or less to offer a 810,000 reward, or twice as much as 

 they have on hand. That is too much on the ciire-you-right- 

 away plan. Mr. Hasty's plan, as given in his " After- 

 thoughts," is certainly a much wiser one, and worthy of 

 consideration. 



Mistake No. 3 is to pay bit' money for a half-page 

 advertisement in the daily newspaper with big letters, as if 

 the people were all deaf. Don't start Ottt too awfully big. 



