For the American Bee Journal. 



Advantages of Comb Foundation. 



E. PICKUP. 



Last summer I hived 4 swarms in 

 boxes, about half filled with comb 

 foundation, and they gathered about 

 enough to winter on, while equally as 

 good swarms hived at the same time 

 without foundation will starve, unless 

 fed. 



This is enough, I think, to show that 

 comb foundation is a success ; especially 

 when we consider the advantage of get- 

 ting straight combs with its use ; also in 

 getting worker comb, instead of so 

 much drone comb. 



I think the Italians proved their 

 superiority over the blacks, in the poor 

 dry year of 1877, in California. The 

 judicious use of comb foundation in a 

 poor season, like the last year, will be 

 quite an advantage. I expect to con- 

 tinue its use next year. 



My bees flew every day this year, thus 

 far, especially on the 6th. The ther- 

 mometer stood at 52° above zero ; while 

 at the same time last year, it was 20° 

 below zero, that was our coldest spell ; 

 a difference of over 70°. 



Limerick, 111., Jan. 9, 1880. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Market Quotations for Honey. 



BR. C. C. MILLER. 



United action on the part of bee- 

 keepers in settling upon the price at 

 which they can afford to sell honey, may 

 be one of the things to be accomplished 

 in the future, but it is quite likely that 

 the ordinary laws of supply and de- 

 mand will control the matter, the same 

 as they control the price of wheat and 

 corn. Although I have little faith in 

 any extraordinary concert of action 

 amongst producers as to the price of 

 honey, I have faith in the same kind of 

 concert of action as takes place among 

 farmers with reference to the price of 

 wheat and corn. There seems to be a 

 somewhat rapid progress toward the 

 settling of honey into its proper place 

 as a staple article, which progress will 

 be hastened by concert of action among 

 bee-keepers. Not by a meeting and 

 settling in convention the price at 

 which honey can be afforded, and a 

 resolution that no one shall sell below 

 that price, but by the general diffusion 

 of knowledge as to the condition of the 

 market with reference to supply and 

 demand, the amount of honey in the 

 country and all the items that might in- 



fluence the price. For this diffusion of 

 knowledge we must look almost entirely 

 to the press and especially to those 

 publications which make a specialty of 

 bee-culture. Through these we are to 

 learn whether the crop is light or heavy, 

 and this knowledge alone is of great 

 value even to those who depend entirely 

 on their home market. If I know that 

 there is a general failure of the crop, 

 whether my own harvest is light or 

 heavy I am safe in asking a good price 

 for my honey at home, without fear 

 that the local dealers will send to 

 Chicago or New York and bring in 

 honey to undersell me. Especially do I 

 need to be informed about the markets, 

 if I produce largely, and ship to one of 

 the larger cities. If I could sell out- 

 right my crop of honey at one transac- 

 tion to a cash buyer, that would suit me 

 best, but if I can get a better price for 

 it by sending to a commission house I 

 should so send it, even if it must be 

 sent in several lots, and it is of some 

 consequence to be informed from time 

 to time as to the state of the markets, 

 that I may know whether it is best to 

 crowd my crop in, or hold back for an 

 emptier market or a higher price. We 

 need light on every point bearing upon 

 the subject, and it is the province of 

 the bee papers to give us that light. 



If the price demanded by commission 

 men upon the same grade of honey 

 varies 3c. per pound then can they not 

 tell us what that price is, with the 

 variation of 3c. V At any rate can they 

 not give us what information is to be 

 had on the subject V Each month we 

 have reliable reports from New York as 

 to the leading commission houses of 

 that city, and is there any reason why 

 we cannot have the same information 

 with regard to Chicago ? It is not the 

 price that commission men demand 

 that should be reported, for they in 

 some cases demand according to in- 

 struction from consignees, a much 

 higher price than they can obtain, but 

 the thing wanted is the price at which 

 they are making sales. If the objec- 

 tion is made that they vary in prices, 

 that objection holds with greater force 

 against buyers' quotations, for last year 

 there was a varation of more than 3c. 

 in the offers I had on the same grade of 

 honey from three different Chicago 

 buyers. 



I may be pardoned for disagreeing 

 with the American Bee Journal, 

 when I say I believe there need be no 

 great difficulty in ascertaining the price 

 at which commission men can sell 

 honey. From New York we get quota- 

 tions with dates and authorities. If I 

 write to Chicago commission men I get 



