1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



269 



that would represent fairly the defects of all 

 the poorest. 



You still think I am inconsistent and para- 

 doxical, eh ? Well, now, suppose you. Dr. 

 Miller, and myself, and a few others who are 

 always at loggerheads on this question, each 

 take what we consider the poorest of the No. 

 2 grade. We might have different notions of 

 what constitutes the poorest, and we therefore 

 might each select a section all different. Sup- 

 pose that, instead of three of us, there were a 

 diizen, and each had a different section, all of 

 them " poorest," but just good enough. to be 

 dumped into the No. 2 grade. Now, then, 

 what I meant was that whatever section was 

 used as a pattern should be a fair average of 

 our selection. See? 



FIGHTING FIRE WITH FIRE ; BEE-KEEPERS 



COMBINING THEIR INTERESTS TO MEET 



THE COMBINATION OF ORGANIZED 



BUYERS OVER THE COUNTRY. 



In view of the fact that great trusts have 

 been formed, so-called, and that men of a 

 trade have combined to protect their interests, 

 it seems as if it were a matter of self-protec- 

 tion on the part of bee-keepers of different 

 States to pool their interests. I am not ad- 

 vocating trusts or combinations or pools ; but 

 the bee-keepers of Colorado and California 

 have been and are placing their combined prod- 

 ucts in the hands of a secretary or manager for 

 each State, with the most gratifying results. 

 The manager of each exchange fixes the price 

 of honey for the whole State ; watches the 

 market ; looks after the interests of the asso- 

 ciated members in a way they could not do in- 

 dividually — prevents individual bee-keepers 

 from cutting prices against each other for the 

 sake of securing trade, and prevents avaricious 

 commission men and large buyers from com- 

 ing in and getting choice car lots at a low fig- 

 ure, thereby forcing all other bee-keepers to 

 sell at the same low figure. 



I happen to know that Mr. Rauchfuss, man- 

 ager for the Colorado organization, has not 

 only fought against large moneyed firms, but 

 has had backbone enough to tell them, when 

 they have tried to ' ' bluff ' ' him, to go ahead 

 and do their worst. One concern who, having 

 bought one or two cars of honey at a certain 

 stipulated figure, I am lold, tried to make him 

 adm t that he had agreed to sell the rest of 

 the honey at his disposal for the same money. 

 When he insisted that he had not entered into 

 any such agreement, the traveling-mHu threat- 

 ed to sue the association. He told him to go 

 ahtad. It is needless to say that the buyer 

 brought no suit, but finally p-vid Rauchfuss' 

 price, which meant a good many mo"e dollars 

 to the individual bee-keepers of Colorado, 

 with the further result that prices in general 

 were shove-d upward, as they should have been, 

 with the probability they will be leld there, 

 even if they are not shoved up higher. There 

 can not be a doubt but that prices would be 

 lower in Colorado to-day but for the fact that 

 the intelligent, progressive bee keepers of that 

 State placed their honey in the hands of a 

 competent man to do the business for them. 

 At another time, if I am correctly informed. 



a certain buyer went through the State to get 

 all the honey he could, stating that he could 

 buy at less figures than Mr. Rauchfuss offered. 

 The latter, having a list of the members of 

 the exchange, sent out notices to all the mem- 

 bers, explaining the situation, and advising 

 them not to sell at less than a certain figure. 

 Well, when Mr. Buyer went around to buy at 

 his own price he found that he had 7'un agaitist 

 something solid. He could not budge one of 

 the members ; and the result was, he bought 

 at Mr. Rauchfuss' price, which was consider- 

 ably in advance over the figures he offered. 



There is a great deal of so-called bluff in 

 the business world, and it needs to be met by 

 business experience and integrity and by busi- 

 ness backbone of a kind that knows its rights 

 and legal limitations. 



If buyers are organized to get honey as 

 cheaply as possible, how can producers work- 

 ing independently, and often against each other., 

 hope to get good prices ? 



I do not know that it is possible to form 

 honey exchanges in any of the States except 

 where large amounts of honey are produced. 

 I should not think such an organization in 

 Ohio, for instance, would be practicable ; but 

 in New York, Arizona, and Utah, where large 

 atnounts of honey are produced, a good deal 

 might be done, with the general result that it 

 would tone up prices in those States where 

 smaller aggregate yields are produced. 



I am not advocating high prices to the det- 

 riment of poor people ; but every honey-pro- 

 ducer knows that honey has been sold at a 

 lower figure for the last few years than it 

 ought to have been. The business of bee- 

 keeping requires skill and good management, 

 and, unlike many other occupations, it is very 

 uncertain. In view of this, there ought to be 

 financial returns commensurate with the labor, 

 skill, risks, and capital involved. In other 

 words, it ought to command as good wages as 

 other avocations requiring a like amount of 

 brains and time. There is a good deal on this 

 subject elsewhere in this number that is to the 

 point. 



ADULTERATION IN THE EAST ; THE NEED OF 

 PURE-FOOD LAWS, BOTH STATE AND NA- 

 TIONAL ; A WARNING. 



The following extract from a private letter 

 from a bee-keeper who is well up in the honey 

 business, and who understands thoroughly the 

 buying and selling of honey, tells a rather sad 

 state of affairs regarding the Eastern markets. 

 Read it carefully, and then write y-our Sena- 

 tors and Representatives, urging them to sup- 

 port any national pure-food measure that may 

 come before them. At the pure-food congress 

 which assembled during the fore part of P"eb- 

 ruary, preparations were made to draft and 

 present a bill which will probably come up for 

 consideration in both House and Senate in the 

 near future. Do not fail to write at once. 

 The extract from the letter, omitting all names, 

 reads a^s follows : 



Gentlemen : — The writer was in New York yesterday, 

 and found the extracted-honey market in verj' had 

 condition. Messrs. have 'i.iOO double ca.^es in stor- 

 age, and $3000 borrowed on the ,'anie. Mes.srs. 



have a big stock consigned, and Mr. has al.so a 



