GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15. 



ITORIAL 



C.R. ROOT, 



RIVAL BEE-PAPER EDITORS. 

 If there ever was a fraternity of feeling 

 among rival editors and publishers, it is among 

 those connected with bee-journals. Once or 

 twice Bro. York and I have occupied the same 

 sleeper en route to conventions, and we were 

 together much of the time afterward. This 

 was particularly so in going to and from 

 the Lincoln meeting. Well, this time Mr. W. 

 Z. Hutchinson, of the Review, and I arranged 

 to meet in Cleveland, there to take a sleeper 

 on to Philadelphia. We left Cleveland on the 

 night train via the Pennsylvania route ; and, 

 didn't we talk bees, things, and men ! The 

 subject of amateur photography we just rev- 

 eled in. We not only went to the convention 

 together, but we came back together ; and on 

 arriving at Cleveland Mr. Hutchinson took the 

 train with me for Medina, where he spent with 

 us a little over a day in looking over the bees, 

 visiting Vernon Burt, etc. All this may seem 

 sentimental to some ; but it means much to 

 bee keepers as a whole. If the editors of the 

 leading bee-journals were clashing and pulling 

 against each other, what woidd the result be ? 



MARKETS BARE OF HONEY, AND WHY. 



I have already spoken of the markets gen- 

 erally being bare of honey, and that the cause 

 was due to the fact that buyers were not offer- 

 ing enough. Although I have spoken of this 

 in this issue, I believe the matter needs special 

 emphasis again. 



Bee-keepers should not be in haste to sell 

 their honey just yet. Honey has advanced 

 very materially in California and the West 

 generally. Extracted that sold in California 

 for Z% cents is now selling for 7. According 

 to the same ratio, comb honey that sold two 

 years ago at 10 cents in our markets should 

 now bring 20 ; and yet 13 to 15 is about the 

 top notch of the eastern market. If the buyer 

 wants honey it appears to me he will have to 

 offer more than these figures. There is evi- 

 dently much honey in Colorado, but it will 

 never find its way east until our markets ad- 

 vance more than they have done. 



It should be understood that commission 

 quotations usually stand higher than cash of- 

 fers, for the reason that from the former must 

 be deducted freight and 10 per cent commis- 

 sion ; but in whichever way the offer is made, 

 the honey-dealers should understand that they 

 will have to advance some before they will 

 have much honey to offer. 



THE PHILADELPHIA CONVENTION. 



The Philadelphia convention, while not the 

 largest in point of attendance, was a success 

 in every way. There were something like a 

 hundred present at some of the sessions. 

 Representatives were present from Illinois, 

 Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Massachusetts, 

 New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New 



Jersey, Virginia, Florida, and a number of 

 other Southern and Western States. The dis- 

 cussions were spirited and good, and the en- 

 thusiasm and the general fun-making were of 

 the best. 



A special feature of this meeting was the 

 very excellent stereopticon lecture by Mr. W. 

 E. Flower, a manufacturer of edged tools in 

 Philadelphia. During this talk he "brought 

 down the house " a number of times by witty 

 sayings, good jokes, and funny pictures. An- 

 other interesting feature was an able and in- 

 teresting address by Prof. H. W. Wiley, U. S. 

 Chemist of the Department of Agriculture. 

 He gave interesting and valuable data in 

 regard to honey as a food, going clear back to 

 early times. Bee-keeping as an art was only 

 about as old as the Christian era, though there 

 were pictures of bees 4000 years old. Of hon- 

 ey he said it was the most wholesome of all 

 sweets, requiring the least effort to digest of 

 any of the saccharine substances. This state- 

 ment, coming as it did from the highest au- 

 thority in chemistry and food products in the 

 United States, means much to the bee-keepers 

 of the country. 



SELLING FOR CASH OR ON COMMISSION ; 



HOW COMMISSION HOUSES MAY GET INTO 



THE GOOD GRACES OF BEE KEEPERS. 



The question of honey on commission and 

 outright sale was thoroughly discussed. E. 

 T. Abbott, G. W. York, and W. A. Selser, 

 argued against selling honey on commission, 

 and in favor of selling it outright. There are 

 so many temptations to deception and fraud 

 in the commission business that Mr. Selser 

 was decidedly opposed to that way of doing 

 business. Mr. Abbott believed he could in- 

 vest his money to much better advantage 

 than to put it in the hands of commission 

 men and let them make such returns on it as 

 they see fit. He paid cash for every thing he 

 bought, and did not see an}- reason why the 

 commission man should not do as much. On 

 the other hand, it was argued that very often 

 an honest commission house could secure a 

 higher price on a lot of honey sold on com- 

 mission than where it is bought on outright 

 sales. If the market advances, then the bee- 

 keeper gets the benefit of the advance. If, 

 on the other hand, it declines, he suffers in 

 proportion to the drop in price. The general 

 feeling in the convention was against selling 

 on commission, and the firms who bought 

 outright were very much in favor. 



Those commission houses that had been 

 offering the prices that prevailed a year ago 

 were severely scored, and it was recommended 

 that they be let severely alone — at least until 

 they could offer better prices. It was stated 

 that large lots of honey were being held back, 

 and would be held until there was an advance 

 in prices somewhere near commensurate with 

 the advance in other things. It was evident 

 from the discussion that the commission 

 house or honey-firm that would curry favor 

 with the bee-keepers would do well to make 

 cash offers. One firm that buys for cash was 

 very highly spoken of, and its customers, as 

 far as they were present, expressed themselves 



