AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Jan. 2, 19{i2 



Contributed Articles, l 



Honey Exchange in California— Other Subjects. 



BY PROF. A. .J. COOK. 



IT is a safe proposition to make that anything that tends to 

 improve the condition of the laboring classes, especially the 

 farming part of a community, greatly benefits the whole 

 country. It is equally patent that the farming population stand 

 in need of nothing so much as of some system of general co- 

 operation. Co-operation is in the atmosphere of our day. The 

 farmer alone lags behind and is left out in the cold. All other 

 kinds of business people, even the newsboys of the .streets, 

 have their combines. What would our railroads do except that 

 they pool their occupations and all pull together ? 



I remember one day I was in San Diego, a little afternoon- 

 day. I mu.-t make El Cajon that afternoon, and get back in 

 time for the morning train home. The El Cajon train had left; 

 the distance and roads forbade a wheel, and I must, perforce, 

 depend upon the liveries. I asked the price, and thought the 

 terms exhorbitantly high. The man at the stable stated that 

 it was a long drive, and that I was to make it in quick time. 

 The roads were heavy, and two horses would be required. 

 Said he, " It is not too much."' 



I still had my opinion, and asked if there were other 

 stables in the city. "Yes," he replied, "there is one just 

 across the street, and several others near by. But,'' said he, 

 "you will get no better terms. All the stables of the city have 

 combined on prices.'" I thought, "Good," and secretly wished 

 that all the farmers had combined. 



The Citrus Fruit Exchange of Southern California has 

 now been in operation for over seven years, and has been an 

 eminent success. These are the things which it has done : 

 Greatly lessened the expenses in preparing to ship: secured a 

 more perfect grading of the fruit : employed salaried agcuits 

 of their own in all the leading cities : developed new markets 

 in the East; with surprising success distributed the fruits in 

 the East with such skill as to preventovercrowding orrtiinous 

 competition, and at the same time keeping all the markets 

 supplied ; doing all their business at an expense of less than 

 three percent, and though the goods marketed bring in mil- 

 lions of dollars each year, they have met with almost no loss 

 at all — less than one-eightieth of one percent during all their 

 years of business. The receipts of their business the past 

 year have been ov<'r eight millions of dollars, and yet there 

 has been no loss at all. This is only one of several years with 

 a similar record. 



The wonderful success of this organization has proved, 

 Erst, that co-operation among farming classes is possible : 

 secondly, that liere, as elsewhere, it means a tremendous in- 

 crease in the profits of business. It works prodigious benefits 

 in two ways — lessens the expense, and greatly advances the 

 market price of the goods to be sold. This organization did 

 one most important thing, if success is to crown the efforts of 

 anvsuch undertaking. They secured a very bright, able man 

 to "serve them as their manager — a man who could run a rail- 

 road or successfully manage any groat corporation. Of course, 

 this requires a large salary. They have paid it, and so far as 

 I know have never grumbled at so doing. Here, too, they 

 have followed the railroads, insurance companies and other 

 such institutions. 



I doubt if any farming enterprise throughout the country 

 has met with greater success than has that of the Citrus 

 Orchardists of Southern California. This, too, in the face of 

 the fact that they have to ship their goods often for four 

 thousand miles at exhorbitant traliic-rates. Except for this 

 Exchange, I believe the business could not have been main- 

 tained, Many of our best orchardists believed that the Citrus 

 Fruit Exchange saved the citrus industry from ruination. 



Last week the honey-producers of this section of the State 

 met at the Chamber of Commerce in Los Angeles, and after 

 due delilieiation decided to organize after the fashion of the 

 Citrus Fruit Exchange. 1 think they have modeled their asso- 

 ciation entirely after the ])attern of "the other organization. If 

 they are as wise in their selection of their manager then they 

 can hardly fail of success. Indeed, they have more to hope 

 for than did the other organization at the time of its inaugura- 

 tion. The Citrus Exchange feels a deep interest in all kindred 

 co-operative movements, and iiave liberally otTi'red to give 

 them the advantage of the services of their agents in the 



Eastern cities. As these agents have been selected with great 

 care, and are men of rare business energy, tact and acumen, 

 they cannot help but be of signal service to this new enter- 

 prise. Similar organizations have been effected by the decid- 

 uous fruit-men, the walnut men, and the celery growers, and 

 in every case these later organizations have greatly profited 

 by just this courtesy— service of the salaried agents in tlie East. 

 So far as I know, nearly all of the members of these several 

 organizations are greatly pleased with their success, and be- 

 )i<'ve heartily that ihey have substantially bettered their con- 

 dition bv this form of co-operative effort. I sincerely hope. 

 that other people throughout the land engaged in agricultural 

 pursuits will also copy this exchange system of Southern Cali- 

 fornia, that these evident benefits may be widely extended 

 throughout our country. 



I am all the more hopeful that the bee-men will make 

 their new effort successful, as I hope it will be leaven that 

 shall tell in its influence the country over. Apiarists are 

 usually bright, intelligent, enthusiastic, and given to reading 

 and studying. This will make it easy for other sections to 

 copy any successful method that may bring conspicuous suc- 

 cess. I believe the honey-producers of central California and 

 of Arizona have already "taken action. If they have not fol- 

 lowed the plan which has been so markedly succ('ssful with 

 our citrus orchardists, it behooves them to study into this sys- 

 tem at once, and if it seems wise, incorporate its cardinal feat- 

 ures in tljeir own methods of work. 



DLSINFECTING FODL-BROODi" HIVES, 



I was greatly interested in reading the discussion on disin- 

 fecting hives which occurred at the Buffalo meeting. It s<'ems 

 to me that the experience of Mr, McEvoy makes it certain 

 that this expense is unnecessary, I am not surprised that 

 this is so. We are told by experts that the sputum of con- 

 sumptives if exposed to the sunshine a few minutes loses its 

 power of contagion. It will be remembered that Prof. Waite 

 has shown that the microbes of pear-blight soon die and lose, 

 their power for harm if permitted to dry. They must be in- 

 corporated in the unctuous environment of pollen-grain or 

 stigma secretion to be potent for harm. It is probable that 

 tlie resin of buds serves them in like manner. We can easily 

 believe, then, that honey must be the medium of transporta- 

 tion In order that the bacilli of foul brood may maintain their 

 virulence. I think bacteriologists have claimed that these 

 foul-brood microbes exist in the blood of the mature bees, in- 

 cluding the queen, yet we have every reason to believe that 

 thi' malady is spread only through the medium of honey. The 

 suggestion given above also explains this peculiarity. 



HONEY PROSPECTS FOR 1902. 



The past week has been one of great encouragement to 

 Southern California. Prosperity in every line here hangs 

 upon the rainfall. We sincerely hope, and expectantly trust, 

 that a generous season's rainfall was ushered in on last Tues- 

 day, by a fall of a one-half inch of rain in a half hour. The 

 ground was so thirsty that even the most of this was drunk up 

 so tbat very little ran off. On Friday another very general 

 downpouring commenced, which, up to Sunday morning, had 

 aggregated two and one-third inches. It lias rained some 

 since, and the weather is yet threatening. 



I believe California is hardly second to any other country 

 in the production of honey, even though it has many barren 

 years. When we have a year of bounteous rainfall, we then 

 prove a record-maker. Only to imagine an apiary of 200 to 

 tjOO colonies all in one locality, and each colony producing 

 upwards of 200 pounds in a single season ! An apiarist with 

 such a record can afford occasional years with no product at 

 all. This is the more true from the fact that we have no win- 

 ter problem in California. Bees liy and gather honey every 

 month in the year. If we except the matter of starvation and 

 foul brood. th(!re are no evils that confront the apiarist except 

 this one ot drought and no harvest. Of course, no good apiar- 

 ist will permit his bees to starve. 



We have an excellent foul-brood law. by aid of which each 

 county can secure a competent inspector whose duty it. becomes 

 to stamp out this disease wherever it has gained a foothold. 

 Nearly all the counties where bee-keeping is at all important 

 are proceeding under the law. 



Droughts are not sufficiently common to become an offset 

 against the enormous production of favorable years. 



THE LONO-TONGUED DISCUSSION. 



It is an encouraging sign that the bee-keepers have be- 

 come so generally interested in the matter of the tongues of 

 their bees. 1 1 is not alone in connection with the red clover 

 that this matter assumes importance. Then' are other flowers 

 than the red clover with long uetcar-tubi-s. While it is true 



