Sept. 6, 1906 



American Itee Journal 



with the League, who no doubt buys much cheaper in large 

 lots, sells the glass at $2.75 to $3.00 a box — almost, perhaps 

 quite 100 percent on what he pays. No tender regard for the 

 interests of the sweating honey-producer shines forth from 

 profits of such magnitude. 



But time and space fail, and what has all this to do with 

 the Honey-Producers' League, anyway? 



This League was organized ostensibly to create a larger 

 demand for honey and to hunt clown lies about it. But 

 startling to tell. 5 of the 7 offices of the League are filled 

 by men connected with the allied interests, and the strength 

 of the League is from the same source. 



So I have written all this to help inculcate the counsel 

 of Captain Standish in Longfellow's "Courtship of Miles 

 Standish" : 



"If you wish a thing well done you must do it yourself; 

 you must not leave it to others." 



If you neglect the counsel as he did, and send someone 

 else to do your courting, you will surely lose Priscilla. Who 

 is to be benefited by the working out of the plan proposed? 

 Would you expect to increase the consumption of wheat 

 by advertising? But honey has been known as long as has 

 wheat. Advertising cannot change the tastes of the people, 

 nor increase their capacity for consumption, nor make honey 

 a necessity. 



The course proposed is admirably calculated to pique the 

 curiosity and thereby lead many of the ultra optimistic who 

 have a little leisure, to embark upon the apicultural sea. 

 And that is for the good of the allied interests, and doubtless 

 what they want. But do you honey-producers want it? I 

 can see how it would decrease the price of honey, but I can- 

 not see how it would tend in any way to increase it. 



What has advertising done to influence the price of 

 honey heretofore? Only the other day Mr. Doolittle, in an 

 article, asks. Why the difference in the price of honey 

 30 years ago and now? He makes the reduction from 28^ 

 cents to 10^2 cents. He does not attempt to _ answer the 

 question, but I can, and to my own satisfaction at least. 

 It was about that time that the advertising of honey and the 

 honey business began to assume some magnitude, and ever 

 since the advertising has increased yearly and the price of 

 honey has as steadily decreased. 



One pretext for the organization of the League is that 

 we Deed assistance in the disposal of our honey. I know of 

 no such necessity. No one of experience has, I think, any 

 difficulty in disposing of his honey. Insist on an unmanipu- 

 lated market; ripen your honey well before moving it; get 

 it to the consumer, or to some one directly interested in get- 

 ting it to the consumer, and there will be no glut in the 

 honey market. 



We are informed, too, that the League is to chase the 

 ignis fatuus of manufactured comb honey. In my opinion 

 the longer it is pursued the bigger it will look. If let alone 

 it will die. I never yet saw a person that even suggested 

 that comb honey could be artificial. It is impossible for any 

 intelligent person to examine a case of comb honey and 

 believe that it might be artificial. 



Traveling salesmen are charged with the lies. They are 

 great jokers, and invent wonderful stories, and will repeat 

 them so often and so long as they will incite or irritate 

 or frighten any one. Disregard their stories and they will 

 drop them. 



But if the plans of the League were in all respects un- 

 exceptional, why divide our forces? Can any sensible rea- 

 son be given for it? In division there is weakness. I only 

 quote from an article of our president-elect when I say : The 

 National Association is the proper channel through which 

 all national reforms for bee-keepers should be secured. 



R. L. Taylor 



Dr. Miller — Mr. President, we are told it is not a good 

 thing to have someone else do our courting. I am not 

 sure about that. I never got any body else to court for me 

 I succeeded very well all alone, and on that account I sup- 

 pose Mr. Taylor thinks every thing else ought to be done 

 alone. But everything is not courting; there is such a thing 

 as my doing something that nobody else might help me at. If 

 I were to try to court a girl, and deputized one of you to go 

 and see her, it is not assured at all that her affections would 

 remain true to me; but if I owed a man $50, and some other 

 man goes and pays $25 of that debt for me, will you explain 

 how that is going to hurt me? 



Let me throw some of the saw-dust aside and see what 

 milk is in the cocoanut. Here a number of men got together 

 and said to us, We want the truth told about honey. They 

 got some $1,400 together, and they said what they wanted 

 that used for was to create a larger demand for honey 

 through advertising in newspapers ami magazines, its great 

 value as food, and by such other methods as may be con- 

 sidered advisable to the Executive Board. Also by publica- 

 tion of facts concerning the production of honey to coun- 

 teract any misrepresentation of the same. 



Now, do you object to an editor telling the truth about 

 honey in his paper because he is not a bee-keeper, because 

 he will do it free? Suppose he is one of these iniquitous (?) 

 supply manufacturers, if he offers you money you are glad 

 to have it in your Association. If he is willing to pay a dol- 

 lar to get some editor to tell the truth about honey, don't 

 you want him to do it? It seems to me this is all in the air. 

 yet there is a feeling of that kind, and that these men said, 

 We don't want any misunderstanding. 1 know- I am the 

 President of this iniquitous (?) concern under fire now, 

 the chief devil of the lot, and I know that those men, unless 

 they fooled me, were entirely honest in saying that the truth 

 ought to be told. You were looking for their motives. Now 

 I think I can understand them I confess there is a 



nigger in the fence I don't see. But I can see this, I think : 

 Here is a supply manufacturer, a supply dealer, anything that 

 hurts the bee-kepers to make less sale of honey or lower the 

 prices of honey, hurts his business. If he can help bee-keepers 

 by having the truth told about honey he is helping himself, 

 if there is that sort of feeling, a new and better use can be 

 made of that money. I am going to read you a resolution 

 made before I knew whether Mr. Taylor was going to be on 

 one side or on the other side : 



"We, the Executive Board of Honey-Producers' League, 

 propose (subject to the approval of the majority of the 

 League's members) to turn over to the National Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association the funds now in the League's Treasury 

 (about $1,300) provided that such funds when received by 

 this Association shall be used for the purpose for which they 

 were orginally contributed in the Honey Producers' League. 

 "Further, we would recommend, if these funds are so 

 accepted, that a sub-committeee of the National be appointed 

 to expend the same." 



Mr. Holekamp — I am one of the Executive Committee or 

 Board of the League. I am a bee-keeper, nothing else, and 

 I believe in advertising, and I believe it takes more money 

 than we can get out of the bee-keepers for this purpose, 

 therefore, I thought it was a good thing if the supply men 

 would help in this matter. The supply dealers are benefited 

 probably more than we are through this advertising, inas- 

 much as the supply dealer can sell no goods unless we can 

 sell honey at a profit. The more honey we can sell the more 

 goods the supply dealer can dispose of. I don't believe the 

 supply dealers in furnishing this money had any other 

 thought than to increase the sale and price of honey for the 

 bee-keepers, and therefore I was willing when I was asked 

 to go on the Executive Board, to take this place. I had 

 been asking to do more advertising to increase its funds. 

 But after coming here I heard that there was a feeling that 

 if there was anything done with it, it was unfair to the bee- 

 keepers, and, therefore, it is probably better to have the mat- 

 ter done the way it has been proposed, and I voted in favor of 

 doing this. I think we can help ourselves. I know it by my 

 own feelings. I began keeping bees for pleasure, and I used 

 to give my honey away, but my crop was so large I had to 

 dispose of it. I didn't know what to do with my honey untii 

 I began to advertise, and, since I am advertising, people are 

 getting the honey from my house. So I believe advertising 

 does us good, and I do not believe the supply dealer has 

 anything else in view other than the benefit that is to help us 

 and to help themselves. 



Pres. Dadant — In this matter, if we wish to take the 

 proposal of The Honey - Producers' League, we cannot 

 accept or reject it, but we can recommend to the Board of 

 Directors of the National Association to accept it, or take a 

 vote upon it through the members of the National. We are 

 a very small percentage of the entire membership, and we 

 can pass anything that will stand for the approval of the 

 members. A motion made here, recommending the acceptance 

 or rejection, as you see fit, will undoubtedly have an influ- 

 ence upon the Board of Directors. Therefore a motion now 

 would be in order. 



