THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



285 



diice as large results as a ten frame 

 Lansfstrotli. But ease of manip- 

 ulation, and the ability to keep a 

 larger number on the same field, 

 are important factors. We are 

 making some experiments in this 

 direction here. 



For 3'ears we have been build- 

 ing up in two frame hi vest ill hon- 

 ey harvest, tlien contracting to 

 force bees up into the sections and 

 tiering up cases with sections, and 

 have colonies which have never 

 swarmed and have had manj^ tiered 

 up three high. 



That must involve some loss 

 travelling up so high, and we aim 

 to avoid it and do generally. 



The season has been a [)oor one, 

 the worst ever known, and strange 

 to say my bees made an average 

 of forty pounds surplus, nearly all 

 of it after June 25 when our sea- 

 son usually begins to wind up. 

 Just now they are storing much 

 honey from golden rod and other, 

 fall flowers. 



Charlottesville, Va. 



American Bee Journal. 



U. S. HONEY PRODUCERS' 

 ASSOCIATION. 



J. M. Hambaugh. 



To organize a controlling per 

 cent of the honey-producers of the 

 United States, aiid thereby brino- 

 them under the controlling influ- 

 ence of the association, is a task 

 not easily accomplished. Can the 

 north, the south, the east and the 

 west, be brought together under 

 one bond of brotherhood, so that 

 there will be no infringing of 

 rights, one upon the other, in the 

 financial transactions of the entire 

 honey tralHc of the United States? 

 Can our organization be so strons; 



that we can successfully " bull " 

 and "bear" against the laws of 

 supply and demand? 



We will suppose for argument's 

 sake, that we are now organized, 

 and have proclaimed to the world 

 that the prices on our product shall 

 no longer be trailed in the dust, 

 and consumers must pay us fifteen 

 cents a pound for extracted honey, 

 and twenty-five cents per pound 

 for comb honey, or go without it ; 

 what does any one think would be 

 the result? I believe the mass of 

 the consumers would argue that 

 they can obtain granulated sugar 

 at fifteen pounds for a dollar, be- 

 ing equivalent to less than seven 

 cents per pound ; fiom this they 

 will say they can make syrup cost- 

 ing less than six cents per pound. 

 Hence the folly of paying fifteen 

 cents per pound for honey when 

 they can get a fair article of 

 syrup for six cents per pound. 

 Sorglmm molasses can be bought 

 from forty to sixty cents per gal- 

 lon, and the larger per cent of the 

 consumers will live on sorghum at 

 those figures rather than to pay at 

 the rate of $1.65 per gallon for 

 extracted honey. 



Can any tell how this state of 

 affairs can be benefited by an as- 

 sociation of honey-producers? We 

 might be able to raise a " corner" 

 on our product, but at the present 

 low rates of other sweets, it would 

 eventually succumb, and at last be 

 governed by the laws governing 

 the supply and demand. 



To me, there appears to be but 

 one remedy, and one road out of the 

 mire, and that is expressed in this 

 short sentence : Increase the con- 

 sumption of honey ! 



Do away with commission men 

 entirely and sell only to the retail 

 dealer and the consumer. Let 

 honey seek its level along w-ith 

 other products of man's labor, and 

 when we cannot produce it at the 

 prices, the times and circumstances 



