134 



THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



volume, Mr. H.White says : " Don't 

 we say too much about getting a big 

 price for our honey ? Would it not 

 be better to try to raise it so we can 

 afford to sell it cheaper? It does 

 not seem to me it will ever become 

 the staple article we wish, unless 

 we can sell it very cheap." On the 

 same page, replying to the above, 

 our worthy editor says : "I agree 

 with you in regard to furnishing 

 honey at a low price, and have 

 felt quite a degree of pleasure in 

 furnishing honey for only 10 cts., 

 in 50-lb. cans." 



From the above it would look as 

 if toe beekeepers were asking an 

 exorbitant price for our product, 

 and getting ric/i out of the sales of 

 honey from our apiaries, thus hin- 

 dering tlie rank and file of the 

 people from consuming our honey, 

 by the high prices we ask for it, — 

 but, wait a moment. Another 

 worthy editor speaks from p. 181 of 

 Amer. Apiculturist, for 1883, 

 and says : "After paying the sup- 

 ply-dealer's bills, the current ex- 

 penses of the apiary, the cost of 

 shipping the honey, and the de- 

 mands of those who sell the honey 

 for the beekeepers, there is but a 

 small amount left for their own 

 remuneration for their hard sea- 

 son's work, and the interest on the 

 capital invested. Do we state the 

 facts in the case? It may be pleas- 

 ing to listen to the reports of large 

 crops of honey ; but when we sit 

 down and carefully estimate how 

 many pounds of extracted or comb 

 honey must be taken from an 

 apiary of one hundred colonies to 

 pay the expenses, and give the 

 apiarist fair compensation for his 

 time and investment, a great deal 

 of the beauty of the picture is 

 spoiled." 



Again, W. E. Clark, President 

 of the N. E. B. K. Convention, 

 says in his address to that conven- 

 tion in 1884 : "The beekeeper's call- 

 ing is one of sweat and toil ; eveiy 



dollar that the beekeeper gets is 

 well earned." Mr. Clark is a thor- 

 oughly practical man, and any one 

 who has read any of his writings 

 cannot help but feel that his state- 

 ments are practical and truthful. 



Now, from the above and other 

 similar expressions which I have 

 read, I cannot but conclude that 

 we are not thoroughly posted re- 

 garding what one pound of honey 

 costs us to produce the same ; and 

 the object of this article is to show, 

 as nearly as may be, what the act- 

 ual cost of one pound of honey is. 

 P. H. Elwood, who is one of the 

 largest honey-producers of this 

 state, once said to me that any, 

 man who could successfull}^ man- 

 age an apiary of 100 colonies of 

 bees, spring count, would command 

 a salary of $1000 in any business 

 he might see fit to engage. 

 This statement of friend Elwood 

 I believe to be near the truth, after 

 a careful comparison of men, and 

 salaries obtained by different per- 

 sons, during the past few years; 

 but in order not to be considered 

 extravagant, I shall reduce it one- 

 half, and allow $500 dollars as the 

 necessary amount to pay a man 

 competent to successfuU}' manage 

 an apiary of 100 colonies of bees. 

 Then we have a capital of $600 

 invested in bees, calling each col- 

 ony worth $6.00, which would give 

 $36.00 in interest to be added to 

 the $500, calling the interest at 6 

 per cent, and $4.00 as taxes, 

 where our bees are assessed at 

 $5.00 per colony, as mine are. 

 Then we have $200 invested in 

 hives and fixtures, which, in order 

 to keep good, and renew them 

 when necessary, will require double 

 interest at least, or 12 per cent, 

 which gives $24.00 more. Then 

 we must buy or make 5,000 sections 

 =r$25 ; 200 shipping cases and 

 glass for the same, costing $40, 

 and 50 lbs. thin foundation for 

 sections, amounting to $30, at GO 



