1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



year's sales. Oae bee-keeper in New Mexico shipped them a 

 carload of honey, and he lost about $1,000 on it ; of course, 

 that went into the pockets of Horrle & Co. Yet, they did 

 make returns on some shipments, but at a very small figure, by 

 selling at a low price. One commission-man will often buy of 

 another. Horrie & Co. sold the finest white comb honey at 8 

 to !• cents a pound to another commission-man. Now when 

 they sell honey at that price, you can easily see they would not 

 make very big returns to the shipper, after taking out their 

 commissioa of 10 percent., also cartage, etc. Their cartage 

 charges were something e.Korbitant — sometimes two or three 

 dollars for moving 500 pounds of honey from the depot to their 

 store. I think the commission-man has every advantage of the 

 bee-keeper. 



Mr. Stone — I think there is only one solution to this ques- 

 tion. Mr. (irabbe makes a statement in regard to having one 

 house — whatever name you are a mind to give it, call it a com- 

 mission-house, or a club-house, or a honey exchange — but there 

 is only one way to get the information before the people, and 

 that is, if there is a honey e.'ichauge, nobody would know it if 

 they did not take a paper. During the Springfield convention, 

 this same question came up. There was a neighbor of mine, 

 over in the next township, who always had a good lot of honey, 

 and I thought from reading the bee-papers, the price at Spring- 

 field would be just about 15 cents per pound for comb honey, 

 I went to every place, where I had been in the habit of selling, 

 and this gentleman had been to every place I went, and was 

 selling honey at 12}^ cents per pound, when he could just as 

 well have gotten 15 cents per pound, if he had had the infor- 

 mation that he might have had by reading the papers, because 

 it was only a short time until honey demanded from 15 to 18 

 cents per pound ; and he spoilt the market because he did not 

 read the bee-papers. He was not at the bee-keeper's conven- 

 tion when I made the statement, but afterwards he took the 

 Bee Journal and Gleanings also. It was just for the lack of 

 infor.Tiation, as to the supply of honey. But I believe with all 

 the advantages we could have of handling honey, it will not 

 help anybody if they are not right up on this question. It is 

 just as important for a bee-keeper to keep up as for the farm- 

 er or horticulturist to read up, to know what the supply or de- 

 mand is of their products. 



Dr. Miller — You should use some discretion in the matter. 

 This thing of piling all the honey into the city markets, and 

 neglecting the home markets, is wrong. Now, the commis- 

 sion-men are not to blame for that. Don't let us censure them ; 

 honey-men should let them know what amount they have on 

 hand. It is a fact, and should be pretty well understood, that 

 you are at the mercy of the commission-man. When you send 

 your honey, it may be in fine condition ; but it may be re- 

 ceived in bad condition. They can claim it is in bad condition, 

 and you can't help yourself. They can sell it for any price 

 they please and report in the same way. You are at the mercy 

 of the commission-man, understand that, fully. Now, what of 

 it ? You must know the man you send honey to. You must be 

 thoroughly sure that you send to an honest man, or else don't 

 send. I don't know whether I shall ever send another pound 

 to a commission-man. I think I can do better. But there 

 may come a time when I can see that in the Chicago market I 

 can get more money for my honey than I can by selling it at 

 home, or by sending it off somewhere else. It may be, that I 

 cant' very well get rid of my honey satisfactorily. When that 

 time comes, it is some little comfort to me that there is a solid 

 firm like R. A. Burnett & Co., to whom I can send, if I must 

 send. So I believe it is a good thing if we can have a few re- 

 liable commission-men. There is the point, we must know 

 they are rclUihle. Don't send to anybody you don't know about. 

 But I do believe it would be a good thing, if we could have a 

 few reliable commission-men, when we must send on commis- 

 sion. But let us not consider that the first and only thing to 

 do with our honey is to send it to commission-houses. 



Mr. York — I think lean see how one may find out about 

 the responsibility of commission firms. I think the Bee-Keep- 

 er's Union should be able to supply such information. The 

 Union should make it a part of its business to learn the stand- 

 ing and reliability of all firms dealing in honey throughout the 

 country, and that would be a great advantage to a member, 

 to find out before shipping, no matter to what market. I 

 think the bee-keeper could afford to pay a liberal membership 

 fee to the Union, to be able to find out from it concerning the 

 responsibility of honey-dealers. 



Mr. Stone — Mr. York's suggestion is just right. But how 

 are we going to get it from the Union, excepting through the 

 bee-papers. Now we have known of these frauds that Mr. 

 Grabbe speaks of, and if we have read it, we know enough not 

 to send our money to that same firm. The bee-papers should 

 tell us who the good firms are. We should read the bee-pa- 

 pers. That is the point I wish to make. It is through the 



reading of the bee-papers we know what is going on. Of course 

 we need a place to send our honey to when we have a surplus. 

 And the bee-paper editors sliould know the best dealers. 



Mr. York — Yes, the bee-paper editors know a great deal(!) 

 but they don't know everything ! It is very difficult to find 

 out about some firms until some bee-keeper squeals. Now, / 

 cannot know whether a certain firm is going to send circulars 

 through the country, until after the firm sends those circulars 

 out, and as they don't send one to me, how am I to know that 

 it is trying to get honey from beekeepers ? So I have invited 

 all bee-keepers to send to me such letters or circulars as may 

 come to them, so I may be able to investigate and report. 



Mr. Stone — The American Bee .Journal is continually 

 warning bee-keepers against sending their honey to fraudu- 

 lent firms, and if they see something that looks as if they are 

 going to get a big price for their honey, they ought to under- 

 stand that there is something wrong. 



Mr. Grabbe — Mr. York has sacrificed a good many hun- 

 dred dollars by not taking advertisements of certain commis- 

 sion firms. One firm here, who are rated very high — as high 

 as almost any one on the street — has been refused the privi- 

 lege of advertising by Mr. York. Their pay is good, and they 

 have tried several times to give him advertisements, and I 

 think they really do as they agree to in most cases, but there 

 are several parties that have been beaten by them, and so 

 Mr. York won't take their advertisements. I think Mr. York 

 is taking the right course, and the American Bee Journal can 

 be taken as authority, that all who advertise in it as buyers or 

 commission-men are reliable. 



Mr. Green — While we feel entirely satisfied as to the relia- 

 bility of Mr. York in the matter, we must remember that he 

 cannot afford the time, and probably cannot afford the money, 

 to investigate these firms as thoroughly as they should be. If 

 we had a bee-keeper's union which made that its business, 

 there would be time and money for looking up these facts, to 

 find the standing of parties, which information could be furn- 

 Isht to the bee-keepers. 



Mr. Grabbe — There is one firm here on the street that is 

 reliable. They had on hand two carloads of honey, and I had 

 a friend, who wanted to ship some honey to them, but they 

 would not accept it, saying, "We have two carloads, and it is 

 all we can sell to our trade, and we can't do justice to more." 

 There are some honorable firms who would not take a consign- 

 ment when they have all they can control. 

 (To be continued.) 



A Ne'w Binder for holding a year's numbers of the 



American Bee Journal, we propose to mail, postpaid, to every 



subscriber who sends us 20 cents. It is called "The Wood 



Binder," is patented, and is an entirely new and very simple 



arrangement. Full printed directions accompany each Binder. 



Every reader should get it, and preserve the copies of the Bee 



Journal as fast as they are received. They are invaluable for 



reference, and at the low price of the Binder you can afford to 



get it yearly. 



•^"•~& 



The Alsike Clover Leaflet consists of 2 pages, 

 with illustrations, showing the value of Alsike clover, and 

 telling how to grow it. This Leaflet is just the thing to hand 

 to every farmer in your neighborhood. Send to the Bee Jour- 

 nal office for a quantity of them, and see that they are dis- 

 tributed where they will do the most good. Prices, postpaid, 

 are as follows : 50 for 25 cents ; 100 for 40 cents ; or 200 



for TO cents. 



■*-»-*' 



The Xames and Addresses of all your bee- 

 friends, who are not now taking the Bee Journal, are wanted 

 at this otfice. Send them in, please, when sample copies will 

 be mailed to them. Then you can secure their subscriptions, 

 and earn some of the premiums we have offered. The 

 next few months will be just the time to easily get new sub- 

 scribers. Try it earnestly, at least. 



Bee Journal Complete for 1896.— We have a 

 few complete sets of the American Bee Journal for the 

 year 1896, which we will be pleased to mail to any 

 one for 75 cents each, so long as they last. A "Wood Binder" 

 to hold the year's numbers will be sent for 15 cents extra. 

 Think of it— only 90 cents for last year's volume of the Bee 

 Journal and a binder — 848 pages ! 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 



should be an agent for it, and get all others possible to sub- 

 scribe for it. See offer on page 13. 



