THE AMERICAN APICULTUBIST. 



47 



books is exhausted, the drone and 

 queen-trap will be mailed according to 

 offer in another place. When subscrib- 

 ing, please say which of the above 

 preniiunis is desired. 



.\GKNTS FOR TRAPS. 



Messrs. Thos. G. Newman & Son, 

 925 West Madison St., Chicago, III., 

 are unr agents for the sale of tlie Drone 

 and Queen-traps. Parties west of Clii- 

 cagn, as well as tliose residing witliiu 

 a radius of a few hundred miles of that 

 city, who desire from one dozen to 

 several dozen traps, can save some- 

 thiug in freight and express charges by 

 ordering of the above lirui. All who 

 can conveniently do so should order 

 traps early, as the trade in them the 

 coming season will be imuieuse, and 

 there may be some delay in tilling or- 

 ders later in the season. 



HONEY REPORTS. 



For the American Apicultarist. 



Dear Editor : — You have doubt- 

 less seen the movement on foot by 

 M. M. Baldridge in the " American 

 Bee Journal," page 774, to shut the 

 reports of commission men out of 

 the bee periodicals. Well, I think 

 Mr. Baldridge is right, and that the 

 course of commission men in run- 

 ning down the prices of our products 

 is very damaging to the journals 

 and to beekeepers alike. It can 

 surely profil us nothing to have such 

 low quotations published in any 

 paper, much less in our bee papers. 

 The space taken is practically an 

 advertisement for the commission men 

 for which they could well afford to 

 pay full rates for their damaging ''re- 

 ports." But I do not think our 

 journals should publish such reports 

 at all, and I would earnestly solicit 

 you to discontinue them hereafter 

 from the columns of the " Apicultu- 

 RiST." Let us have reports from a 

 committee of honey producers or 

 from any one interested in the cause 

 of the producers, and it would be 

 better to give rates higher than 



honey can be sold at, than to publish 

 ruinous and unprofitable prices. 



All honey producers should put 

 their honey in the hands of retailers 

 and ship directly to them in all cases 

 leaving the middle man out entirely. 

 The beekeeper, not the commission 

 man, should dictate the price at 

 which the honey is to be sold. Then 

 pay a reasonable commission for 

 selling, say fifteen per cent and await 

 returns at intervals when the honey 

 is sold. But I would sooner give 

 twenty per cent than to put my 

 honey in the hands of middle men 

 to speculate upon as they are sure to 

 do to our injury. 



I have sold all of my honey for 

 years in this manner and believe it 

 to be the most practicable plan that 

 can be adopted both for the bee- 

 keeper and the retailer. 



Please give this matter your 

 thoughtful attention as it seems to be 

 worthy, and let us hope that bee- 

 keepers will cease to allow othei 

 people to dictate prices. I feel sure 

 that when all consider this subject 

 well that they will heartily commend 

 the effort being made to suppress 

 those who seem to have no interest 

 whatever in the welfare or honey 

 producers.. 



New Phila., O. 



"What is it?"— Our remarks under 

 this heading have brought us several 

 communications with reference to 

 this same point. 



Mr. L. T. Hopkins of Conway, 

 Mass., writes thus : — 



" I see by tiie November " Api " vou 

 have doubts about bees working on 

 honey dew in the afternoon. I had 

 more of the stuff than I wanted the 

 last of August and first of September 

 gathered from walnut and oak leaves, 

 the bees working all day, but gatiiered 

 fastest before the dew dried oil in the 

 morning, or when there was a fog or 

 mist all day. There were millions of 

 insects on the undersides of the leaves. 

 Some trees were so covered witii the 

 dew it would run off on the ground. 



