288 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



could do under the circumstances, 

 to sell our product for all it would 

 bring. 



But on looking over the quota- 

 tions of hone}^ recently, I am 

 forced to one of three conclusions : 

 First, honey must be more plenti- 

 ful in the United States than we 

 have been led to believe ; or, sec- 

 ondly, that too nian3' of our pro- 

 ducers must be ignorant of the true 

 state of affairs, and are rushing 

 the new crop on the market before 

 it recovers from last year's depres- 

 sion ; or, thirdly, that the large 

 dealers in the cities are trying to 

 keep prices down until they shall 

 have stocked up. 



Now, as a honey-producer ni}'^- 

 self, and with some facilities for 

 observation by travel, and a reader 

 of nearly all the bee-pai)ers, I know 

 that this year's honey crop in 

 America will not be one-half as 

 great as it was last. Many good 

 judges place it much lower. Tak- 

 ing the state of Iowa as a whole, 

 I doubt if there is one- fourth as 

 much ; and from all I can learn, 

 there appears to be very little new 

 honey on the market as yet, or, in 

 fact, any honey. 



I have recently visited some of 

 our large western cities, and find 

 the market bare. Therefore, I 

 conclude that the old-fogy bee- 

 keepers are not demoralizing the 

 market this year. Indeed, when 

 w^e think of it, we might know that 

 would l)e the case ; for in such 

 years as this they do not have any 

 to sell. Now wliat can be said to 

 avoid the conclusion — that the city 

 jobbers are "bearing" the market 

 in order to buy ? 



Let me quote from the American 

 Bee Journal market report, on 

 page 589, Sept. 14, as to price of 

 honey in some of the leading cities. 

 I will only notice the quotations 

 for white honey in one-pound sec- 

 tions : Chicago, 18 cents ; Detroit, 

 17 to 18 cents ; Cleveland, 17 cents ; 



Boston, 20 to 22 cents — good for 

 Boston! — New York, 16 to 18 

 cents ; Milvvaukee, 17 to 18 cents ; 

 Kansas City, 16 to 18 cts. ; St. 

 Louis, 12 cents, and Cincinnati, 15 

 cents. 



If "the old crop is all sold out," 

 "no white clover in market," "of- 

 ferings small of all kinds," "short 

 crop indicated," and "demand 

 large," prices ouglit to be a little 

 better than most of the quotations. 

 I believe, as a matter of fact, they 

 are better. I think some of the 

 best commission men are among 

 those who advertise the least. They 

 let their, sales and returns speak 

 for them. I have in mind one 

 house who have sold our dairy but- 

 ter for top creamery prices, and 

 above quotations right along. I 

 sent them a trial shipment of honey 

 a ^e\Y days ago, and instructed them 

 to hold for 20 cents. It had barely 

 time to reach the city when I re- 

 ceived a telegram saying, "Honey 

 sold — 20 cents — send more quick." 

 These men told that they sold sev- 

 eral carloads last year for beekeep- 

 ers who would have none to sell 

 this year. 



In conclusion I will add, don't 

 sell hone}' at less than Boston 

 prices. 



Forest City, loioa. 



Introducing Queens.— Early hi 

 Auiiiist we trausferrecl .several hives 

 of bees for some parties who reside 

 fifty miles from Wenliam. At the 

 same time, Italian queens were intro- 

 duced to some of the colonies by the 

 following method: After the combs 

 and biood were all fastened iu the 

 frames, the cages (the same as we 

 have used several years for shipping 

 queens) were inserted in one corner 

 of one of the frames. The part of the 

 wire cloth which covers the food in 

 the cage was bent back so the bees of 

 the colony could remove the food and 

 thus release ihe queen. This plan 

 worked perfectly. 



Will our customers who have so 

 much trouble in introducing queens 

 take a hint from the above? 



