1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



219 



4. Lepislation — 

 Appropriations. 

 Other legislative matters. 



In view of the fact that more 

 honey is being produced than can be 

 disposed of under present marketing 

 conditions, the question of distribu- 

 tion and marketing, as above stated, 

 is a matter of prime importance to 

 those in the business commercially. 

 What is the solution of this prob- 

 lem? As a suggestion, I will venture 

 to offer the following : 



Let local units be established; the 

 county, perhaps, being the unit. 

 Where conditions will warrant, elect 

 manager or special agent who will 

 inspect and grade, according to speci- 

 fied rules, all honey belonging to its 

 members and which is to be placed on 

 the market under a State or National 

 seal or guarantee. A State inspec- 

 tor of honey should visit the various 

 local centers from time to time to 

 determine the conditions of sanita- 

 tion under which honey is being put 

 up and to see that the proper grading 

 rules are enforced. Only members 

 of the State and local organigations 

 are to be permitted the use of the 

 seal, and only after proper local or 

 State inspection. 



The State organization may be in 

 the form of a producers' league or 

 association which shall provide for 

 supervision of local exchanges, au- 

 thorize the use of the seal under 

 stated restrictions and provide a pen- 

 alty for its misuse ; require of local 

 exchanges a semi-monthly report of 

 crop and marketing conditions on 

 blanks provided for the purpose, re- 

 port to local agents suitable informa- 

 tion concerning crops and mai'keting, 

 report to the national body, which 

 in turn will report to the State mem- 

 bership through the State manager. 

 The State Central Association, 

 thi-ough its manager, should serve as 

 a bureau of information in the dis- 

 tribution of honey, bees and equip- 

 ment, furnishing information both to 

 buyer and seller, thus avoiding un- 

 necessary freight charges to and 

 from large distributing centei's as un- 

 der the present system, and largely 

 eliminating the profits of numerous 

 handlers which often increase the 

 cost to the consumer to three times 

 the amount received by the producer. 

 In case of shortage or surplus within 

 the State, the manager, through the 

 American Honey Producers' League 

 can be placed in communication with 

 conditions of supply or demand out- 

 side the State. A system of adver- 

 tising of League honey should be car- 

 ried on in the State by the State As- 

 sociation and local advertising by the 

 local agents with the advice and as- 

 sistance of the State manager. The 

 State manager should, through the 

 local exchanges, see that every retail 

 grocer is constantly supplied with 

 certified honey, put up in standard 

 containers bearing the seal of the 

 National League. 



It should be the duty of the State 

 organization to work in harmony 

 with the American Honey Producers' 



League in the matter of grading and 

 standardization of packages as well 

 as in crop reporting and marketing 

 and in the dissemination of informa- 

 tion. In forming a State League, 

 buyers, supply dealers and all allied 

 interests should be permitted an as- 

 sociate membership. 



In order to carry out the plan out- 

 lined, a considerable amount of 

 money will be necessary, but I am 

 confident that producers are willing 

 to pay for actual service that will as- 

 sist in making the business profitable. 

 The project may be financed in one 

 or more of several ways. The man- 

 ner of securing funds must be de- 

 termined by the needs of the asso- 

 ciations formed. The following is 

 suggested : 



1. A charge for use of seal. 



2. A membership fee with privi- 

 lege of use of seal. 



3. A charge for inspection of 

 honey. 



4. A commission on sales through 

 County or State Manager. 



5. A per colony tax on bees be- 

 longing to members. 



Under a system of careful inspec- 

 tion and grading, an approved sys- 

 tem of handling, proper advertising 

 of certified product under National 

 seal, honey should bring a higher 

 price and no real producer can afford 

 to stay out of the association. In 

 case honey not certified is sold by 

 non-members, either at a higher or 

 lower price, it will not materially 

 aff'ect the retail price of certified 

 honey. 



Is the scheme outlined above prac- 

 ticable? Probably in certain States 

 and under certain conditions it would 

 not be. I am offering it as a sug- 

 gestion only, and many defects 

 doubtless will appear. Many diflicul- 

 ties will be encountered in putting it 

 into operation, but after eliminating 

 the unworkable features, I believe 

 that here is the nu':-!eus of the system 

 which ultimately will prove practica- 



ble and will bring about a better dis- 

 tribution and consequently! an in- 

 creased deiiiand and better prices for 

 our product. What do you think? 

 Indiana. 



Mr. Alex. Livshitz, of i^alestine, and the senior 

 editor. Mr. Livshitz's visit was mentioned 

 in our May number. 



TWO AND ONE-HALF PER CENT 



By E. G. LeStourgeon 



Steady now, beekeepers. Don't 

 jump to any ra.sh conclusions. The 

 heading of this article does not refer 

 to any ruling of Mr. Kramer relative 

 to the kick" allowed in "home- 

 brew. Things are not always what 

 they seem. 



The other day I took a look at a 

 whole lot of statistics. Let us say 

 musty statistics. All good writer 

 now-a-days use the good word 

 musty ' when referring to statistics. 

 Anyhow your humble s:-ribe was do- 

 ing this very musty thing in the hope 

 of finding a moral for the beekeepers 

 of America. While absorbed in this 

 rnore or less meritorious but very 

 slightly remunerative task, we (note 

 the modest pronoun ) , discovered that 

 there are over 80,000 beekeepers in 

 the United States. Now this must be 

 true, because several sets of the 

 aforesaid musty statistics average the 

 same, and no one has contradicted it. 



As we (still modest), delved more 

 deeply into the figures of the erudite 

 and bespectacled statisticians and 

 their array of facts and figures we 

 uncovered the 2% percent that we 

 started our sermon about. No, assur- 

 edly, it was not alcoholic content. It 

 was something good. While being 

 good. It was small, pitifully small. It 

 IS up to you, dear reader, to tell me 

 why it was so small, and to help make 

 it larger. 



We issued, last month, a bulletin of 

 the American Honey Producers' 

 League. We mailed it to exactly 

 2,280 beekeepers. We mailed it to 

 every member of the League and 

 many who we hoped would become 

 members. We mailed it to 2 V2 per 

 cent, only, of the beekeepers of 

 America. 



The League movement has been on 

 foot nearly two years and only 2Vi 

 per cent of the beekeepers of America 

 are enrolled. Why? How much have 

 you done? Do the beekeepers of 

 America want a National League? Do 

 you want one badly enough to send in 

 some names for us to send our litera- 

 ture to? 



Whether your State is aflSliated or 

 not, you can become a sustaining 

 member of the League upon the pay- 

 ment of 1 10 into the League treasury. 

 The League needs the money. It is 

 doing a great and good work for the 

 beekeepers of America, and you can 

 help yourself and the honey-produc- 

 ing industry by giving the League 

 your financial and moral support. We 

 are awaiting your answer. This is a 

 personal message to YOU and to ev- 

 ery American beekeeping interest. 

 Are we only 2% per cent, or are we 

 100 per cent interested in our busi- 

 ness? 



San Antonio, Texas. 



