112 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



grade comb honey under a special classi- 

 fication, whereas there were others who 

 thought they could. And, judging from 

 what was shown at the World's Fair 

 honey exhibit last year, it was plain to 

 see that the Doctor was right in what 

 he thought he could not do in that 

 direction. 



Some of the imaginary talk the Doc- 

 tor gives with that imaginary lady, 

 plainly shows that he has had no experi- 

 ence, worth copying, in selling extracted 

 honey. In short, he imagines a talk, 

 which, in some respects, I have never 

 met with in more than 20 years' experi- 

 ence. An agent, properly instructed, 

 who could not have silenced that lady's 

 remarks, would not be worth his salt to 

 me. 



I know from experience, not theory 

 nor imagination, that any lady or gen- 

 tleman competent to sell books, can be 

 instructed to sell extracted honey in 

 thousands of cities and villages, and at 

 remunerative prices. But the agent 

 must have proper instructions, and then 

 must follow them. But I never attempt 

 to give those instructions to any one 

 who has no desire to know them. I 

 have now had in my employ three agents 

 who have always sold extracted honey 

 at my prices, and profitably, by follow- 

 ing my instructions. One of these 

 agents was a lady — the other two young 

 men. 



No, Doctor, I do not live in a moun- 

 tainous country, nor where the people I 

 trade with live miles away from gro- 

 ceries, nor where honey-producers are 

 unknown. The country where I live is 

 just about as level as where the Doctor 

 resides, and groceries are just about as 

 convenient and numerous. I presume 

 the people are just about as wealthy and 

 intelligent, with possibly one or two ex- 

 ceptions, as those in the Doctor's neigh- 

 hood. This being the case, the Doctor 

 does not seem to understand why my 

 customers do not find out that they can 

 buy honey at a lower price than they 

 pay me. Why, doctor, they do know 

 they can buy comb honey, in wooden 

 sections, at about the price you mention, 

 but they have intelligence enough to 

 know that when they pay for a section 

 of wood and honey they do not get, on 

 an average, to exceed 12 ounces of honey. 

 And, with some assistance, they reason 

 thus: If they have to pay 20, or even 

 18, cents for three-fourths of a pound 

 of honey, they might as well pay my 

 price, or 24 cents, and get 16 ounces, 

 or a full pound. 



Again : Neither Melbeenorhis agents, 

 when soliciting orders for honey, have 



ever yet been found quilty of carrying 

 around with them a bee-paper of any 

 description, for the express purpose of 

 showing to would-be purchasers the 

 market reports, as prepared and manip- 

 ulated by commission merchants, nor do 

 they ever intend to be guilty of doing 

 so. On the other hand, the Doctor per- 

 haps would not approve of such an un- 

 business-like procedure. I presume the 

 Doctor would carry a sample of honey 

 in one hand, and a sample of one of 

 those KKirket reports in the other, and 

 then call the special attention of his 

 patrons to both samples. That, of 

 course, would be just like the Doctor ! 



The Doctor seems to think that Mel- 

 bee might be a wealthy man if he would 

 only set a score or so of agents to work- 

 selling honey for him on his terms and 

 at his prices. Perhaps the Doctor is 

 right for once. On the other hand, the 

 Doctor perhaps might have been also 

 wealthy, if he had stuck to the music 

 trade at a salary of — say $2,500 per 

 year. But as he did not do so, perhaps 

 we have a right to infer that he has be- 

 come exceedingly wealthy from the sale 

 of his honey crops. 



The Doctor attempts to make it ap- 

 pear that the difi'erence between 7 cents 

 wholesale, and 24 cents retail, is all 

 profit. A novice might think so, but a 

 bee-keeper of Dr. Miller's experience 

 should know better. Evidently the Doc- 

 tor has had no experience as to the ex- 

 pense connected with the sale of ex- 

 t»-acted honey, by the plan pursued by 

 myself and my agents, or else he desires 

 to misrepresent the profits we obtain. I 

 am frank to confess that we do get a 

 good profit, but no larger than thou- 

 sands of others might secure by knowing 

 how. 



To conclude : Melbee desires it to be 

 distinctly understood that he does not 

 follow the honey-trade simply for health 

 and pleasure, but mainly for dollars and 

 cents. 



Honeyvilie, Beeland. 



Positiye Preyeiition of After-Swariiiiiig. 



Written Jar llic American Bee Journal 



BY FRANK COVERDALE. 



James Heddon, I believe, was the first 

 to give us a practical method for the 

 control of after-swarming ; however, the 

 method could not be absolutely depended 

 upon to do the work, but was a grand 

 step in the right direction. Who knows, 

 to a certainty, just when the first queen- 



