456 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Jl-NE 1 



iPEClAbiNOTJCES 



BY 



BUSINESS^ANAGER 



BEESWAX ADVANCED AGAIN. 



When we made the last advance in beeswax a 

 month ago we thought it would go no higher this sea- 

 son, but we are compelled to rec rd another advance 

 of 2 cts. a pound for immediate shipment only. We 

 are paying at present 30 cts. cash. 32 cts. trade, deliv- 

 ered here; but this price may be withdrawn at any 

 time without not'ce. We have secured enough from 

 dealers so that we are practically certain the price 

 will go no higher, and by next i.ssue we may an- 

 nounce a lower price because we look for a much 

 lower price as .soon as the .sea.son is over, when we use 

 so much in making comb foundation. 



ADVANCE IN COMB FOUNDATION. 



Chas. Dadant & Son, Hamilton, 111., with ourselves, 

 announce the further advance in price of comb foun- 

 dation of 2 cents a pound, both wholesale and retail. 

 The revised price list will now .stand as follows: 



—In lots of — . 



1 lb. 10 25 50 



Medium brood 50 48 46 45 



Light " 52 50 48 47 



Thin .super 57 55 53 52 



Extra thin 60 58 56 55 



The market price of beeswax is very film, and ad- 

 vancing: but we do not anticipate that a further ad- 

 vance will be necessary this season. 



SECTION HONEY-BOXES. 



We still have a surplus ahead of orders of 45<tx7-to- 

 foot No 1 and No. 2, which we can ship promptly; 

 also of 4^^xl3'3 No. 1 and No. 2. Of the three styles of 

 plain sections. No. 2 giade 4x5xl->3; 353x5x154 and 

 4^/4x154, we have a small surplus. Any of the above 

 we can ship promptly while they la.st, and when not 

 ordered with something else which will delay them. 

 Orders for sections of other sizes, and for founr'ation, 

 are from one to three weeks behind. The lumber we 

 are now using to make sections costs us enough more 

 than our regular supplj', which is exhausted, to add 

 to the cost of a thousand sections 30 to 50 cents. We 

 have decided not to raise the price any on small lots 

 for this season, but have advanced the price to large 

 dealers in lots of 50,000 and upward. 



GLOBE BEE-VEILS. 



We are able to announce that we are again supplied 

 with Globe bee-veils in .sufficient quantities to fill all 

 orders. When we started into this season we thought 

 we had plenty to la.st throtigh the whole sea.son, and 

 would have had under ordinary circum.stances. A 

 new outlet developed in trade for the Klondike, and 

 our supply veiy soon vanished, and we have been en- 

 tirely out for six weeks or over. It took time to find 

 a place to get the frames made and prepare tools and 

 stock for turning them out. Our new supply has a 

 new and improved method of attaching the ribs to the 

 neck-band, for which aijplication has been made for 

 patent. It was devised by the party in l\Ias.sachusetts 

 who makes ihe frames, but is assigned to The A. I. 

 Root Co. The.se veils would be a source of great 'com- 

 fort to our soldier boys many times, in places infested 

 with flies and mosquitos. They seem to be appreciat- 

 ed \>\ bee-keepers, although we personally prefer the 

 veil without the steel frame, to be worn over a broad- 

 brimmed hat. 



CARLOAD SHIPMENTS 



During the month of May we have shipped from 

 here fifteen full carload shipments, besides about 

 twice as many goods in less than carload shipments. 

 These cars were as follows: One to Jos. Nysewander, 

 DesMoines, Iowa; one to Reno, Nev.; four cars for ex- 

 port, two going to Liverpool, Eng., and two to Sydney, 

 Australia; one car to Rocky Ford, Coloiado; one to 

 Buell Lamberson, Portland" Ore.; one to Salt Lake 

 City, Utah, care of John H. Back, 235 W. 3d N. St.; two 

 carloads to Salisbury, and two to Wm. Sel.ser, at No. 

 10 Vine .St., Philadelphia; one to Walter S. Ponder, 

 Indianapolis, and one to Vickery Bros., Evansville, 



Ind. We have orders entered for fifteen cars more for 

 shipment this month. The firsi of these will be a car 

 to Jno. Nebel & Son. High Hill, Mo.; one to Jos. Ny.se- 

 wander, Des Moines, Iowa; one to Chicago branch 

 and St. Paul branch, and one to L. A. Watkins Mdse. 

 Co., Denver, Col. We have shipped, up to June 1, this 

 sea.son, sixty-eight full carload shipments, while up to 

 .same date last year we had shipped forty-four full car- 

 loads. The increase in less than carload shipments 

 this year over last has been nearly double. 



THE SITU.ATION AT PRESENT. 



The following is a copy of what we are now sending 

 out as a receipt for most orders for bee-keepers' sup- 

 plies : 



" We are sorry to be obliged to inform you that 

 we are so far behind our orders because of an 

 enormousl}^ increased demand that it will be im- 

 possible for us to i-hip >our goods for from three 

 to four weeks. We are filling orders in their turn as 

 they reach us, as far as possible, believing that, under 

 the circumstances, this is the only fair way. We have 

 been running the factory day and night since March 

 1st, working a force of about 250 people (all we can 

 make room for). We are turning out 5(X) to 600 hives, 

 80,000 to 100,000 .sections, and 1000 lbs. of foundation 

 every day, and other goods in like proportion. Ship- 

 ments aggregate W-^ to 2 carloads in weight every day. 

 We have bought 10 carloads of two other factories to 

 help us keep pace with our orders but all the other 

 factories are behind ^s well as we ■ and, from all the 

 data we can gather, the demand for bee-keepers' sup 

 plies seems to be double that of any previous year. 

 You may .say we ought to have been better prepared ; 

 but reflect a little, and think what it means to provide 

 for such an unexpected incease. If we were not 

 shipping constantly we should, in less than a month's 

 time, fill up all our available .storage capacity, manu- 

 facturing at the present rate. Unless more bee-keep- 

 ers and dealers are more forehanded, and order early 

 in the fall and winter what they are likely to need, 

 such times as we are having now can not well be 

 avoided in such seasons as this by any amount of 

 preparation by the manufacturers. We expect to put 

 in a .500 horse power engine, and build an addition to 

 our wood-working factory nearly twice the size of the 

 present one, and will do our part in getting ready for 

 another year; but that does not help us much for the 

 present. If you can not wait j'our turn to have j'our 

 order filled, let us know at once and we will cheerful- 

 ly cancel it and return the money you have sent with 

 it If we knew where to refer j-ou, where 3'ou could 

 get more prompt service, we would gladly do that; but 

 (as far as we can learn ) all factories are behind. Our 

 branches and wholesale dealers are, as a rule, not so 

 badly behind, but their .stock is likely to be badly 

 broken and depleted at this sea.son when goods are 

 being shipped .so rapidly, and they might be out of the 

 very thing you needed most. If you reply to this, 

 plea.se mention the date of this card so we may more 

 easily locate your order among the 2000 or 300O orders 

 on hand. If you decide to wait your turn you need 

 not write us. Avoid as much as possible making any 

 additions to orders, or writing us to huiry them, be- 

 cause it is a big task to find an order among so man3-, 

 and it may be the means of further lelay. It gieatly 

 increases our work when, under the circumstances, 

 you should do what you can to lighten it. We do not 

 usually object to being bothered in this way, but in 

 the present condition of things it is to your interest 

 that we give this caution." 



We have been using this for a week now, and it is 

 having its effect in cutting down the orders, as many 

 are asking to have their orders cincelled rather than 

 wait .so long, and orders are not coming in quite so 

 freely as they were For the past few weeks we have 

 been receiving about 1000 orders every 10 days. By 

 the time we go to press again we hope to be able to 

 report a better .state of affairs. We are turning out 

 four to five thousand hives a week now, and the or- 

 ders entered aggregate eight to ten thousand. With 

 the sections we are buying and those we make, we 

 are dispo.sing of over three millions a month; and our 

 orders aggregate nearlv two million. We are turning 

 out .tOOO to 6000 lbs. of foundation every week, and the 

 orders foot u]) to about 10,000 lbs., .so that we ought to 

 be pretty well up on orders within two or three 

 weeks, if we do not receive them as fast as they have 

 been coming in, and if we have no mi.shaps. We wish 

 to thank the many for their patience and forbearance 

 under such trying circumstances. Not all are patient; 

 but the great majority are, .so far as we get an expres- 

 sion. 



