626 



&LteANiNGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping in the Southwest 



Louis H, 



BEEKEEPERS^ EIELD-DAY DEMONSTRATION 

 PICNICS ; HAPHAZARD MARKETING. 



Experience has proven to me time and 

 time again that the beekeeper who always 

 stays at home, never meets with other bee- 

 keepers, and does not even accept one or 

 more bee-journals for a companionship, is 

 not only dragging himself disadvantageous- 

 ly through life but is a detriment to his 

 more progressive fellowmen. Such a bee- 

 keeper is hampered in many ways, and 

 blundering along and falling very short of 

 what might otherwise mean at least partial 

 success in the work in which he is engaged. 

 He is a detriment, not only to his fellow- 

 men but to himself. He fails to obtain a 

 just reward for his toils on account of the 

 fact that he is ignorant of the true value of 

 the products that he does succeed in pro- 

 ducing under the difficulties that continually 

 confront him. And worse than this is the 

 fact that his acts too often mean great in- 

 jury to the beekeepers who have taken much 

 pains and care in studying all the factors 

 that go to make a successful honey crop and 

 then disposing of it at a good profit. This 

 should not be. But what is our remedy ? 



The injury done by these " fellows " is 

 far greater during years of good honey 

 crops. Their output is usually not very 

 large during a season of scarcity. During 

 more favorable seasons these beekeepers 

 have quite an amount of honey to sell, and 

 it is ridiculous how they do sell it. It is this 

 very ridiculousness that means so much 

 harm for the " other fellow." The low price 

 set by these inexiaerienced beekeepers has 

 torn down many a market, and the beekeep- 

 ers who have to depend for their bread and 

 butter upon their bees and the honey crop 

 pi-oduced have felt it keenly. This is a 

 distinct loss to the beekeepers, and amounts 

 to not only hundreds but thousands of dol- 

 lars in a single season. Yet we have this 

 class of beekeepers to contend with, and H 

 seems that they are going to stay with us for 

 some time yet at least. 



Texas is suffering from the results of such 

 haphazard marketing on the part of those 

 who did not know the proper prices for 

 their products. This always has a disas- 

 trous effect on the honey markets of this 

 State, and causes gxeat loss indeed. In 

 addition to this many beekeepers have re- 

 sorted to price-cutting, and there is nothing 

 that does greater harm to a market upon 

 which the producers depend for an outlet 

 for their products. And this is especially 



true when a crop is large and everybody is 

 in a hurry to get his products to market, 

 whether it be honey, vegetables, fruits, or 

 any thing else. 



Such demoralized conditions are not al- 

 ways caused by a lack of demand. I have 

 seen instances when there was a good de- 

 mand for honey on the part of the consum- 

 er, and yet the buyers did not handle it. 

 This was caused by the instability of prices, 

 one beekeeper offering honey lower than 

 another, so that the buyers were afraid to 

 buy for fear that they might lose in the 

 transaction. 



Organization would do much to remedy 

 these matters; but, pray, how far have we 

 succeeded in our efforts to organize the bee- 

 keepers of the country? I am aware of the 

 fact that some sections of the country have 

 their organizations and are doing good 

 work; but not every portion of the country 

 is so happily situated as to make it possible 

 to organize the producing forces. This was 

 tried in Texas several years ago, and it 

 failed. The situation does not seem any 

 more encouraging now. Besides, there is a 

 large territory to cover, and the number of 

 beekeepers alluded to above is very largely 

 represented. It would be very difficult in- 

 deed to get them into an organization of 

 this kind, or to get them to affiliate them- 

 selves with it for the purpose of marketing 

 their little product when they have it for 

 sale. 



It is evident that the beekeepers of Texas 

 will eventually devote more of their time 

 and attention toward the matter of dispos- 

 ing of the Texas honey crops more satisfac- 

 torily. The matter of better marketing 

 systems is being studied most attentively by 

 all classes of producers at the present time, 

 and both State and the national govern- 

 ments are busily engaged in the discussion 

 of this all-important marketing problem. It 

 is high time that the beekeepers fall right in 

 line of the march that has already been be- 

 gun, and take hold of it most earnestly. 

 While it is being taken up by other States, 

 our Texas beekeepers have not done a great 

 deal in this direction, and it is hoped that 

 steps will be taken at the earliest opportu- 

 nity to find remedial measures for a more 

 profitable marketing of our honey crops, 

 especially when we have a large crop. 



It is to be hoped that this matter will be 

 taken up at the State Association meetings, 

 not so much for the purpose of forming a 

 selling organization at this time, as it seems 



Continued on next page 



