THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 47 



Something About the Buying and SelHng of Honey. 



ANOTHER ARGUMENT FOR UNIFORM GRADING RULES.— HONEY SOLD 



FOR A HIGHER GRADE THAN WHAT IT IS BOUGHT FOR. 



QUOTATIONS IN BEE-JOURNALS ATTACKED. 



By a Reliable Member Who Prefers Not to Have His Name Used. 



[Conditions as mentioned in the following article are not surprising. Our 

 friend who wrote it, however, speaks of the poor, simple, confiding, unsuspecting 

 producer. Now I will admit that the producer as a rule is poor and simple, but. 

 I must object to the producer being classed as confiding and unsuspecting. From 

 my experience with producers and farmers in general I think that they are more 

 apt to be distructful and suspicious. That is our chief trouble in co-operative 

 enterprises ; the producers will not trust each other. We need honesty all around, 

 the producer as well as the dealer. 



The producer who is distrustful is more apt to get taken in than the man 

 who intelligently studies the market and knows when a good price has been 

 offered. Many producers are so avaricious that they will bite when a tempting 

 offer has been made with the hope of getting a consignment. I have no sympathy 

 or praise for the dishonest practices of the dealers, but the producers should not 

 complain until they have exhausted every effort to sell co-operatively. The 

 dealer is not in business for the benefit of the producer. This talk of the inter- 

 ests of the producer and dealer being identical is largely hot air shot off to keep 

 the producers from organizing their own distributing system. The producers 

 and consumers will not both prosper until a comprehensive system is established. 

 In the meantime we should do what we can to enforce honesty and truthfulness iu 

 honey quotations. 



The "grading up" process is practiced by producers, dealers and retailers 

 almost universally. Especially is this true of apples on our retail markets. Choice 

 is sold for fancy and standard grades are sold for choice. Bee-keepers in the 

 west dispose of their culls as number twos and number twos are sold as number 

 ones on the local markets. It is a well nigh universal rule. The remark is made 

 that the grocer will not know the difference anyway, and as a general rule he 

 doesn't. — W. F.] 



' • i^^OR a good many years I have bought and sold honey as well 

 jr as raised it, and could not understand how the retailers could 

 buy the grades they were handling at the prices they said 

 (and I later found) they paid. It was so simple. Fancy was sold by 

 the jobbers as Extra Fancy (or some similar change). No. 1 went as 

 Fancy and No. 2 as No. 1. So far as the retailer was concerned, he 

 only knew the brand on the box and the fine distinction of the bee- 

 men he knew nothing about If a case of sections did not prove to 

 be up to what he thought he was getting, it was laid to the pro- 

 ducer who was supposed to have packed it. But, not a few cases 

 are re-packed to get rid of broken sections — and — well, the brand 

 was overlooked. ( ?) 



It is one of the delicate methods of making an extra profit be- 

 tween producer and consumer. 



But some retailers buy No. 1, display it out of the cases, mark 

 it "Fancy Comb Honey," and get the top price. Sometimes they 

 know what the "Fancy" brand is, but more times they do not, and 

 merely use the word Fancy to praise the goods. 



