(Entered at the Post-OfBce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter.) 

 Published "Weekly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Co., 334 Dearborn St. 



QEORUB W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL, APRIL 12, 1906 



VoLXLVI— No. 15 



^ 



Cbttorial Xloks 

 anb Comments 



j 



Honey Prices and Quantities 



Have you ever thought of it, that if you can get $10 for 100 pounds 

 of honey it is nearly double the price per pound net that you receive 

 if you sell 150 for ?10? First, it does not cost as much labor on the 

 part of the bees and the bee-keeper to produce the 100 pound6. It 

 does not cost as much for packages to contain it. The freight is less 

 on it; and, finally, it does not go so far toward overstocking the mar- 

 ket as would 150 pounds. Figure it out yourself and see if I am not 

 nearly right. 



Thus says Editor S. E. Miller in the Progressive Bee- 

 Keeper. Not every one would accept his opinion off-hand, 

 but the more those who object to it figure upon it, the more 

 likely they will be to think it not far out of the way. Put- 

 ting the idea into another form, a rise of SO percent in the 

 price per pound is equivalent to doubling the net profit. 



As a practical matter, however, most bee-keepers would 

 be inclined to discount the net result to some extent, saying 

 they do not care to lessen either their own labor or that of 

 the bees, if thereby the gross intake may be increased. Yet 

 when the square question is put before the bee-keeper, 

 " Which do you prefer, to get $10 for 100 pounds or $10 for 

 150 pounds ?" he will not hesitate to say he prefers the first 

 part of the proposition. The question then arises as to 

 what can be done, if anything, thus to reduce the amount 

 of outlay without reducing the income. But that's another 

 story. 



How to Increase Prices of Honey 



Most bee-keepers are probably producing honey for the 

 money that is in it, and have a vital interest in the question 

 as to how the profits may be increased. Anything that can 

 be done to reduce expenses means to just that extent an in- 

 crease of profits. Increase of knowledge, so as to use bet- 

 ter plans and secure larger crops means increase of profit, 

 at least on the part of the individual bee-keeper. But the 

 thing that appeals most directly to the bee-keeper in gen- 

 eral as the great thing to be desired is a higher price for his 

 product. 



How is that desideratum to be attained? How are bet- 

 ter prices for other commodities attained? In some cases, 

 and perhaps to a larger extent than generally supposed, by 

 limiting the output. Manufactories are shut down, no mat- 

 ter at what inconvenience to the thousands thrown out of 

 employment, when the state of the market seems to require 

 it. Where it is a matter of crops, part of the crop is delib- 

 erately destroyed that the price may be upheld on the re- 

 mainder. But a right-minded person revolts at such a pro- 

 ceeding. If it were followed in all departments, it would 

 merely mean a scarcity in all departments, with want and 

 suffering. Besides, it is not at all certain that suppressing 

 half the crop of honey would double the price of the re- 



mainder. Indeed, it seems quite certain that it would not, 

 for in a year when there is less than half a crop there is 

 very little elevation of price. 



Following the lead of dealers in other commodities, a 

 better way, and a way entirely free from objection, is to 

 increase demand, using all legitimate means, but chiefly by 

 means of printed matter. Publicity, advertising — that's the 

 thing. Advertising, however, is by no means limited to 

 that which goes through the printer's hands. The man 

 who discourses to his neighbor upon the merits of honey is 

 doing effective advertising, although he may advertise 

 more largely by saying the same thing through the local 

 press. The man who, Alexander-like, gives away a pound 

 of honey to each of a number of prospective customers, is 

 doing advertising of a very effective kind. 



After all, whatever else may be done in a local way, 

 thoughtful minds appear to view as the one thing desirable 

 above all others some general scheme of advertising on an 

 extensive scale that shall cover a very large field, if not the 

 whole field, which shall help in a permanent way to place 

 honey as an article of daily consumption alike upon the 

 table of the rich and the poor. 



How this may be brought about, or indeed whether it 

 ever may be brought about, is a serious question. 



Forecasting the Weather a Month Ahead 



Long distance weather forecasts whereby the public may be in- 

 formed of meteorological conditions for the month to come may be 

 established by the Weather Bureau soon. Willis S. Moore, chief of 

 the Bureau, made the announcement Tuesday night at a banquet of 

 the Maritime Association in New York. 



At present forecasts are made only for 4S hours. The Bureau has 

 been studying the possibilities of long-range forecasts for some time, 

 and the system is nearly completed for the work. 



The foregoing, from the Chicago Record-Herald, seems 

 to hold possibilities of interest to bee-keepers as well as 

 others. To make a jump all at once from a forecast of two 

 days to that of a month looks just a little like romance, but 

 we shall see what we shall see. To mention just a single 

 example, many a man who cellars his bees would give no 

 small sum for a fair guess at the weather two weeks ahead 

 at the time when he is trying to decide whether the bees 

 should go into the cellar or not ; and still more would he 

 like to know the probabilities about the time of taking out 

 in the spring. 



More Bee-Inspectors for Ontario 



We have received the following, which will be of special 

 interest to our Canadian readers : 



More efficient inspection of apiaries, by the appointment of addi- 

 tional inspectors, is a probability. At the last annual meeting of the 

 Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association, the Minister of Agriculture, Hon. 

 Mr. Monteith, was asked to increase the number from one to three. At 

 present the one is appointed by the Association, paid by the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, and between the two masters is rather hindered 

 in hi6 work. 



Hon. Mr. Monteith called in the officers of the Association to dis- 

 cuss the matter fully, and this morning they saw him. Those present 

 were Messrs. H. G. Sibbald, President of the Association ; Wm. 

 Couse, Secretary ; J.B.Hall, F. A. Cemmill and J. D. Evans— all 

 prominent and experienced apiarists. The advantages to the industry 



