Dec. 11, l'J02. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



789 



should pay the bill. This society has most of the larfjcr 

 producers as members, and they could report for small pro- 

 ducers and other larg-e producers who are not members. 

 Three postal cards sent to each reporter would cover the 

 cost, except condensiiifj and arran^fin)^. To avoid confu- 

 sion, each correspondent should understand what territory 

 he is reportinj^ for, and not do as the editor of one of our 

 bee-journals does, assifjn a man to a county, even if it is as 

 large as an ordinary State. Mr. York please note this last 

 item. C. A. Hatch. 



Pres. Hutchinson — The man who was chosen to respond 

 is a man who can probably tell us somethinjf from actual 

 experience. I will call on Mr. Frank Kauchfuss. 



RESPONSE OF MR. RAUCHFUSS. 



Frank Kauchfuss- Our brother bee-keeper from Wis- 

 consin says that statistics can be used for two purposes : 

 First, for general information about the business ; second, 

 to give the necessary information for commercial purposes. 

 For the sake of brevity I will contine my remarks to the 

 latter, as this is of the most importance to those engaged 

 in the business, and also the dealer in honey. 



It is of great value to the bee-keepers to know at the 

 earliest possible date what the honey crop of the country 

 will be ; what sections are likely to have an available sur- 

 plus, and what sections are short, and, therefore, may fur- 

 nish a market for the surplus of other localities. 



As matters have stood so far, the bee-keeper has had a 

 decided disadvantage, because there was no way for him of 

 securing the desired information, except what he could find 

 out from the fragmentary reports published in the bee- 

 papers. 



On the other hand, the merchant dealing in honey, by 

 reason of his keeping in close touch with his shippers and 

 others, is generally well-informed about crop conditions 

 when the time comes around for marketing the crop, and 

 he naturally makes the best possible use of it. It behooves 

 the producer of any commodity to be as well informed as 

 possible about the supply and demand of his products, and 

 he should not be afraid to spend some money in securing 

 this information, as it is wisely invested. 



The first reports of the commencement of the season 

 should state how the bees wintered, and their condition at 

 the time of making such report, and whether there are more 

 bees in the locality than the previous season. A little later 

 the prospects for a crop should be reported. When the 

 honey-flow commences reports should be made semi- 

 monthly, giving conditions of flow, quantity of honey taken 

 off, comb or extracted, vphite or amber, and if sales have 

 been made, to give quantity sold and price obtained. 



If it were a fact that all the honey-producing sections 

 of the United States were supplied with well organized 

 County and State bee keepers' associations, then I would 

 strongly recommend that all county associations should 

 report at certain intervals to their State associations, and 

 the State association report as often to the National. These 

 reports should then be published in the official organ of the 

 National association promptly. But as long as there are 

 many States in this Union that do not even have a State 

 association, this course can not be pursued, and we have to 

 look for some other way. 



It is probable that the United States Department of 

 Agriculture could be interested in the matter, and induced 

 to undertake this work ; crop reports gathered by the gov- 

 ernment are. as a rule, reliable, if they could be secured 

 promptly. However, if there is no hope to secure it through 

 these channels, it seems that the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association might be able to start the ball rolling, by gath- 

 ering at first reports of the principal honey-producing sec- 

 tions of the United States, and if this attempt proves to be 

 successful, branch out until every honey-producing State in 

 the Union is included. 



As Mr. Hatch says, this should be borne by the persons 

 receiving such information ; if the National association 

 does the work, these reports will go to all the members, and 

 the Association bear the expense. Whether this is feasible 

 at the present membership fee, a trial only will show ; but 

 that good, reliable and prompt reports will be appreciated 

 by all progressive bee-keepers is quite certain. 



Now, if it is of any value, I will make a few remarks re- 

 garding our experiment of gathering crop reports last year. 

 We, last year, sent about 400 postal cards to bee-keepers 

 that we knew were interested in this work. It seems the 

 efi^ort was not very much appreciated, as there were only 

 about A6 to 48 replies. These people paid in 50 cents at the 

 commencement of the making of the reports with this un- 



derstanding : " This season the Honey Produccru' As»ocia- 

 tion has decided to take up the work with some modifica- 

 tions suggested by experience, such as, that questions will 

 be sent out to be answered before May 20, June 15, July 1 

 and 15, Aug. 1 and 15, Sept. 1 and 15, and Oct. 1, respec- 

 tively. A copy is enclosed, and you are requested to an- 

 swer at once those asked for May 20 ; details from the re- 

 ports received will be compiled and sent to all bee-keepers 

 shortly after each of the dates mentioned." (Reads copy of 

 letter sent out.) 



Now, these reports were received all through the season, 

 and as the season progressed, and the work of the bee- 

 keeper was more pressing, we found they were getting less 

 and less all the time, but we were fortunate in retaining 

 sufficient people in each locality to make the reports of con- 

 siderable value to every Western bee-keeper, and there is no 

 doubt they have been largely instrumental in obtaining 

 better prices for honey not only in Colorado, but also all 

 the honey-producing sections of the West. I spoke to a 

 gentleman from northern Colorado last night, and he says 

 he is quite sure that these reports which he had obtained at 

 a cost of 50 cents, had benefited him to the extent of at 

 least $30. 



F. E. Brown— We can see by these papers and discus- 

 sions how it is possible to get reports from our members, 

 where we are organized in the local societies, but the thing 

 that interests me is. How can I get the reports from you of 

 other societies ? In California the buyers vrho control the 

 honey of central California for sale, will come to me and 

 say that Arizona has stacks and car-loads of honey, and they 

 are offering it on the market at such and such prices ; they 

 will tell us that in southern California they have tons and 

 tons, and, as it was reported last year, they had anything 

 from 500 to 1000 car-loads to be put on that market. These 

 reports were used to influence the market. The thing you 

 want, and I want, is to know exactly what is reported all 

 over, and the question is. How shall we accomplish that 

 object ? How can these reports that come in be communi- 

 cated to me, and how can my report be communicated to 

 you, that we may all know ? 



J. C. Carnahan— I don't know who originated the idea 

 that Mr. Rauchfuss spoke to us about a minute ago, but I 

 do know this, that if we had followed the instructions^ of 

 Mr. Rauchfuss, it would certainly have been worth SlOO 

 to me this year in the marketing of my honey crop. I think 

 if it was followed right through the whole country, it would 

 be a good idea— each one in the State reporting to the head- 

 quarters of the State, and then the headquarters of the 

 State reporting to the National, so that each bee-keeper in 

 the National might know the condition of the honey sup- 

 ply in all parts ; he would know when to sell, and what 

 price to ask for his honey ; and I think it is a grand idea, 

 and everybody, not only in Colorado, but in the whole 

 country, would profit by the idea that was gotten up in that 

 pamphlet by Mr. Rauchfuss ; it is a good one. 



Herman Rauchfuss — I believe this convention helps a 

 great deal towards accomplishing just what we have been 

 talking about ; we just have to get acquainted with each 

 other. Mr. Brown said he had written to Colorado trying 

 to get some information, and he couldn't get it. We never 

 were able to make any connection with the California bee- 

 keepers. We come together here, and we come to these 

 meetings, and the better we get acquainted the sooner we 

 will accomplish our objects. After we have accomplished 

 them we will certainly get a better price for our honey than 

 we have been getting up to this time. We have had this in 

 Colorado, and the same works all over the country. In 

 fact, I believe the time will come when we will not have 

 local organizations— we will have a National organization 

 all over the country, and this one here, and in California, 

 and in other States, will be nothing but branches. 



W. L. Porter— It seems to me that this is a field that 

 the National association might do a great deal of good in. 

 We know by the experience of last year how the reports in 

 the difi'erent newspapers of the country exaggerated the 

 amount of honey that was to be sold ; those in the East, 

 and parties who wished to buy honey, did it for a purpose 

 — to lower the price of honey when it was offered for sale, 

 and then, afterwards, they expected the price of honey 

 would rise, and they would profit by it. Now, if we had 

 data from the National association so that we could go to 

 the press and say the National association says so and so, 

 we would have something that would have weight ; and if 

 the National association would do something in that line 

 there is no doubt but what we would all benefit by it. 



Mr. York— In the last paragraph of Mr. Hatch's paper. 



