278 



American Hee Journal 



April 4, 1907 



uniform, an exhibit of a few cases is sufficient 

 to make the sale; on a lot of honey of 100 

 pounds to 1000 pounds it takes as much of an 

 exhibit to sell it as it does the car-lot, and fre- 

 quently many times as much expensive labor 

 is employed in selling the small lot as the 

 larger one, as there are Often different grades 

 of honey in the same shipment. 



All commercial houses of any standing, in- 

 cluding commission houses, keep a record of 

 the sales, and when returns are made to the 

 consignor, a copy of the original entries ac- 

 companies the remittance, so that the owner 

 may know just how his consignments sold. 

 A wholesale buyer usually understands what 

 he is doing; therefore, presuming the seller 

 is equally well versed in his business, a sale is 

 more quickly effected than in the case of 

 where a wholesaler is selling to a retailer 

 who has more or less of a limited knowledge 

 of what he is buying, and needs to have much 

 more information imparted to him concern- 

 ing the merits of the merchandise under con- 

 sideration. R. A. BCBNETT. 



Chicago, 111., March 5. 



George W. York & Co. : — We are in re- 

 ceipt of your favor of the 26th, enclosing the 

 article Id regard to market quotations in the 

 American liee Journal. The quotations as 

 they appear in the different papers, are in- 

 tended to represent as nearly as possible the 

 prices realized at that time in a jobbing way. 

 This leaves a wide range as to quantity. 

 While one man will not want to buy more 

 than 5 or 10 cases, another might take 100 or 

 more. 



Where a party buys very largely, even the 

 quotation prices are very often shaded in 

 order to make the sale, especially so when 

 there is plenty of supply and the demand not 

 very active. There are quite a tew firms, we 

 believe, who do strictly jobbing business only, 

 who, perhaps, are not in position, nor have 

 facilities, to sell to the retail trade. 



Your correspondent seems to think that the 

 quotations as they now appear are not right, 

 and that they should be based on the prices 

 sold to the retail merchants, so as to guide 

 the producers as to what figures they should 

 sell to their local markets. We can not quite 

 agree with your correspondent. Take, for 

 instance, all quotations in the Journal of 

 Commerce and Commercial Bulletin of New 

 York, which, we are pretty sure, are wholesale 

 figures or jobbing prices, and are generally 

 understood this way. 



Of course, where merchandise is sold in a 

 small way -it is generally sold at a little higher 

 than quotation prices, and then the shipper 

 would derive the benefit anyway. 



While we can only speak for our own mar- 

 ket, we are of the opinion that quotations for 

 other markets signify wholesale prices. The 

 vital point is, it appears to us, that the ship- 

 per should have confidence in the firm to 

 whom he consigns his goods, leaving the 

 handling of same entirely to their discretion 

 and judgment. Hildreth & Seoblken. 



New York, N. Y., March 9. 



George W. York & Co. :— We have your 

 letter of Feb. 26th, enclosing a criticism from 

 •^ Business Manager," and will state that we 

 consider the way we handle honey the only 

 way; that is, to buy it outright. We, per- 

 haps, are in a little different position from 

 some dealers, but we have secured a fair mar- 

 ket of our own, on our own goods, and there- 

 fore have always handled honey on an out- 

 and-out sale, and not on commission. From 

 eiperience that has come to our view, hand- 

 ling honey on commission or consignment is 

 very unsatisfactory. A great many commis- 

 sion men in the country take advantage of 

 the bee-keeper. We have known instances 

 where commission men would receive a nice 

 lot of honey, would get a fair price for it, 

 and then when they made their report to the 

 bee-keeper they would report 2 or 3 cents less 

 than they actually sold it at, deducting 

 freight, cartage, breakage, etc., and in the 

 end the bee-keeper does not get as much out 

 of it as if he sold it to some good merchant 

 that makes a specialty of handling it. We 

 do not insinuate that all commission men are 

 alike, but we have seen so much of it done 



that we are frank to state that it is not the 

 right way for any man to market his goods. 



When quoting the honey market for bee- 

 papers we always quote what honey brings 

 here, or what we term the " retail trade " — 

 the grocers. We never quote our price to the 

 jobbing trade, as this varies according to the 

 quantity bought, and our quotations have 

 always been just what honey was bringing 

 here in a retail way. We do not think that 

 any producer of honey in the United States 

 has any business to sell his honey on consign- 

 ment or commission, as there is no one that 

 produces so much that some jobber in honey 

 can not buy it outright and pay for it ; then he 

 knows just what he is going to get for it. 



It is true that a great many bee-keepers 

 never read the bee-papers, and never know 

 what honey is worth. Invariably they sell 

 their crop without even investigating as to 

 what it is worth. 



We think the matter is an important one, 

 and we are satisfied that our view will be 

 agreed to by the majority of honey-dealers. 

 iThe Griggs Bros. & Nichols Co., 

 Per S. J. Griggs, Pres. 



Toledo, Ohio, March 5. 



George W. York & Co. :— I have read 

 with much interest the letter written by Mr. 

 Business Manager, and 1 am heartily in sym- 

 pathy with him. Market quotations should 

 be very valuable to producers, but privileges 

 to wholesalers in quoting the markets have 

 been seriously abused. To me it seems that 

 an explanation should be at the top of the 

 column stating that quotations are the whole- 

 sale prices being made to retail dealers. 



It appears that some quote the market as 

 regards their own stock, without referring to 

 the general market of city named. Some have 

 used the space as a free advertisement, quot- 

 ing what he, individually, pays for beeswax, 

 leaving the public to guess what his near 

 competitor is paying, and saying nothing 

 about what he is selling at. Such quotations 

 do not enlighten the producer in any manner. 



In quoting my own city I realize that I am 

 not the only one in the honey-business by a 



long ways, and I look around to see what is be- 

 ing offered the retailer in a general way, and 

 quote accordingly, regardless of any stock 

 that I may have on hand. I have always be- 

 lieved this to be the correct method. 



It is a question in my mind whether or not 

 the producer of honey is ever justified in send- 

 ing out his goods on the consignment plan. 

 Better have a deflDite understanding about 

 prices before shipping, and such arrange- 

 ments can be made with respousible commis- 

 sion houses as well as with cash buyers. I 

 recently saw an instance where a producer 

 refused the price offered by a cash buyer, but 

 agreed to consign his honey to a commission 

 house in the same city. The commission 

 house later offered the same honey to the 

 cash buyer at a less price than had been of- 

 fered the producer by the cash buyer. I am 

 a believer in having an understanding about 

 prices before shipping, and then a cash basis, 

 for this is the remedy to guard against disap- 

 pointments. In every large city the cash 

 buyer has a struggle to compete with the 

 commission man, but the cash buyer is the 

 best friend of the bee-keeper. 



A reform in market quotations is much 

 needed, and will be welcomed by all who are 

 interested. Cash Buyer. 



There seems to be considerable agreement 

 among those who quote the honey-market for 

 the American Bee Journal. It is as we have 

 always understood, that the prices quoted are 

 those which the shipper might expect to re- 

 ceive for his honey, after deducting the 

 freight, cartage, and commission charges. 



The letters given herewith are certainly in- 

 teresting reading, particularly the emphatic 

 manner in which some urge the cash buyer's 

 method. It would seem to be a pretty good 

 way. And always write the dealer before 

 shipping the honey, no matter whether it is 

 to be sold on commission or for cash at an 

 agreed price. 



flews Items ; 



The Suburban Apiary of VVm. Kobert 

 Shannon, of Brooklyn, N. Y., is shown on the 

 first page. Mr. S. writes as follows concern- 

 ing it: 



The little apiary represented in the enclosed 

 picture is located in a Brooklyn suburb of 

 "Greater New York.'" My little girl, boys, 

 and myself, may be seen in the picture. Not 

 having trees to shade from the hot sun I use 

 a canvas covering, having space inside this 

 cover to move about and do any needed work 

 among the bees. 



Last season, colonies having plenty of 

 stores and a young queen, were very success- 

 ful, giving SO to 103 pounds of section honey 

 Aug. 1; the same colonies sealing afterwards 

 in the brood-chamber 40 to 50 pounds in Sep- 

 tember and October from wild aster. 



I would say that queens after their second 

 year are very uncertain. It is a waste of time 

 to permit a weak colony to rear a queen. Such 

 a queen will be small and delicate in these 

 circumstances, and the bee-keeper will expe- 

 rience poor results. No queens can compare 

 with those found in the parent colony from 

 which a prime swarm has issued in June. 

 Such queens are good for 2 years. 



To be successful, attend to the common- 



sense known facts. Winter your bees with 

 plenty of stores, and a young queen in each 

 colony. Weather conditions must be very 

 bad if one does not reap a plentiful harvest. 

 Wm. Robert Shannon. 



A Pair Exhibit, made by O. K. Rice, of 



Washington, is shown on the first page. 

 When sending the picture, Mr. Rice wrote 

 thus: 



Enclosed you will find a picture of our 

 local grange fair exhibit of my honey. It 

 took first prize. It had to, as it was the only 

 honey exhibited. There were some bee-keep- 

 ers that would have exhibited, but when I 

 had mine ready they did not come. I sold $30 

 worth the day after the exhibit, and as a 

 prize I got an 8-day clock which strikes the 

 hours and half-hours. You can see it in the 

 picture at the right. At the left you will see 

 a volume of the American Bee Journal with 

 the pictures of Dr. Miller, N. E. France, and 

 Wm. McEvoy. It is the first issue for 1906. 

 In the exhibit, the top row of honey is pint 

 jars; the next is I4 -jars, and third J^-gallon 

 jars. The fourth or last in the center 3^, and 

 next ,'4 and pints. On the table is a cake of 



