SLEANiNGS IN BEE CULfURl! 



close to indicating the per cent of solids in 

 the honey; so when we subtract the degrees 

 Brix from 100 we obtain quite closely the 

 per cent of water in the honey. 



It is not practicable by any method to test 

 the density of tldck syrups or honey at a 

 temperature below 50 degi'ees F. A tem- 

 perature of 60 to 100 F. is much to be pre- 

 ferred, as the viscosity is less. 



For those who might wish to make use of 

 some form of hydrometer I would recom- 

 mend a set consisting of three hydrometers 

 —A, 0—30; B, 30—60; C, 60—90 Brix, 



divided to ^2 degrees, and standardized at 

 68 Fahrenheit. A and B would be used for 

 thin syrups for feeding, for insecticides, as 

 lime-sulphur solutions, for water-glass solu- 

 tion used with eggs, and for brines and 

 other solutions heavier than water. C would 

 be used for testing density of extracted 

 honey, and syrups for winter feed. Such a 

 set can be procured for about $4.00 from 

 Eimer & Amend, New York, or E. H. Sar- 

 gent & Co., 125 Lake St., Chicago; or The 

 Denver Fire Clay Co., Denver, Colo. 

 Lansing, Mich. 



ORGANIZATION IN THE MARKETING 



EY 



BY 0. B. METCALFE 



In the March issue of The Western Honry 

 Bee I think the editor has hit it about right 

 where he advises local organization as the 

 first step to State-wide agreement. It is 

 certainly the safer plan. An experiment on 

 the part of the whole State might tie up a 

 crop of honey more or less, and this would 

 throw two crops on the market tlie follow- 

 ing year at a price likely to be worse than 

 ever. Five or six men, or more, as he sug- 

 gests, may get together and try the thing 

 pretty well. I do not believe that the buy- 

 ers are as well organized as most beekeepers 

 think. If they had such a snap I doubt 

 whether they could keep it secret enough so 

 that others would not rush in to share it 

 with them. I suspect that competition is 

 pretty keen between them. If it is not, you 

 can bet that they are buying your honey on 

 a pretty close margin. This is what the 

 small organization may find out. 



I hear some one say that they have no 

 chance to get more for their honey when 

 all the others sell at the same old price. 

 That depends on just one thing. If the 

 buyer has been fattening on an unreason- 

 able profit, they can hunt the market and 

 get more for their honey. If not, they may 

 fail. If they succeed it will be an easy mat- 

 ter for them to induce the others to join 

 them. 



It has been my observation that one good 

 live business-like producer who hunts the 

 market and gets more for his produce does 

 more to give the little man the " better-price 

 bug " than all the arguments you can put 

 before him. Get the best of the other fellow 

 as to returns, and he is a believer. You 

 don't have to argue it with him. In the 

 mean time let every beekeeper hunt his own 

 market with all his might. 



I have wondered if it would be possible, 

 and if it would not help the price of honey, 

 if the bee journals would print all " honey 



wanted " advertisements for just tlie cost 

 of printing, or even free. 



One thing that organization for the pur- 

 pose of raising the price of honey should 

 bear in mind is that honey is not one of the 

 necessities of life. If some master broker 

 could somehow get a corner on all the honey 

 in the United States, and then proceed to 

 jump the price a few cents too high, he 

 would simply keep nearly all his honey. 

 That is ail that would happen to him. 



We must also bear in mind the prices of 

 competitive products, and that the main 

 consumer of ordinary extracted honey, at 

 least, can sweeten his meal very satisfacto- 

 rily with cane syrup. It is not a question of 

 the relative food values of butter and honey, 

 as some writer once talked about. It is a 

 question of the price of good wholesome 

 cane syrup, and how much better the con- 

 sumer likes honey. If he likes it two cents 

 a pound better, charge him two cents more 

 for it, but stop at that 



For all I say here, I am friendly to any 

 sound scheme for raising the price of hon- 

 ey. I merely wish to warn the organizers 

 not to overlook their limitations. I once 

 tried to make a talk something like this one 

 at a beekeepers' association meeting in Los 

 Angeles, and I think they thought I was 

 making a selfish talk in favor of the buyer. 

 As a matter of fact, I have not even tried to 

 buy a single pound of honey on speculation 

 for the last four years, for the reason thnt 

 my buying and selling figures were always 

 so close together that it never proved worth 

 my while. 



QUALITY OF QUEENS FROM SUPERSEDURE 

 CELLS. 



Say ! " I kinder like " the editor of Tl>e 

 Wstern Honey Bee. But on page three of 

 his March issue he says that supersedure 

 cells are inferior cells. I thought they were 

 the very best. 



