790 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



is about :!(• i)er cent, and then 10 per cent 

 each for tlie two years following, or 50 per 

 cent in three vears. The repairs will riui 

 from $50.00 to $100.00 per year. This 

 means that the average automobile, either 

 truck or pleasure-vehicle, will cost about 

 $1.00 per day exclusive of the cost of gaso- 

 line and oil, which will be from 1 to l^/i 

 cents a mile, or a total cost of 10 cts. per 

 mile. After looking over these figures the 

 average person will conclude he cannot 

 afford an automobile; but if he will stop 

 and figure up the cost of a horse and buggy 

 or wagoii he will find the horse and rig will 

 run considerably more per mile and consid- 

 erably behind the machine in speed and 

 range. A man with a self-propelling vehi- 

 cle can do nearly five times the work in tl e 

 same time. 



If one buys a Ford automobile at some- 

 thing around $500, the cost of depreciation 

 and tires will run about a half; and in 

 buying cheap machines one should be slow 

 about buying a new and untried make. The 

 Ford has long sirice proven itself to be a 

 first-class machine. 



A practical conclusion of the whole mat- 

 ter is, that one whose income is less than 

 three dollars a day cannot afford to run a 

 pleasure vehicle costing $1000 ; but even at 

 three dollars his family expenses will have 

 to be cut to $2.00. A truck for one's busi- 

 ness should be considered on another basis. 



img over tlie Net-weiffli 

 Will it be a Nuisance or a Blegsimg? 

 We hear some grumbling over the net- 

 weight law as it applies to comb honey. 

 Many producers say they are going to quit 

 the production of honey in the comb, be- 

 cause they cannot stand the nuisance of 

 marking every single section. This will be 

 a serious mistake. In the first place, the 

 national net-weight law need not be any 

 great annoyance to any one. We might as 

 well make up our minds to conform to it 

 first as well as last, and the sooner we do 

 it the better. The law is now in effect, and 

 he who will not mark his comb honey on 

 interstate business wdll be rendering himself 

 liable; and the man who is liable is the 

 shipper, whether he l)e the producer or the 

 dealer". 



In the second place, it would be sheer 

 folly to give up comb-honey production 

 because of the fancied inconvenience of the 

 net-weight law. Comb honey is now de- 

 manding comparatively good prices; but if 

 every one rushes into the production of 

 extracted honey and quits that in the comb, 

 the price of extracted will sag worse than it 



is doing now. In the moan time comb hon- 

 ey will begin to soar. Those who stick to 

 comb-honey production during 1915 with 

 the other fellows out of competition will 

 find a ready market at prices that will 

 please. Let the unthinking and the carele'^s 

 go out of the business if they like; but the 

 readers of this journal will find that mark- 

 ing the net weight on their comb honey is 

 a comparatively simj^le job after they learn 

 how. 



In the end, we believe that the net-weight 

 law will boost the production of comb hon- 

 ey, because it will insure a better article 

 and a more uniform grading. The one thing 

 that has handicapped the comb-honey busi- 

 ness and demoralized prices has been the 

 habit of some to put their combs — light, 

 heavy, and medium — all in one ease. The 

 net -weight law will make it necessary to 

 grade the sections carefully according to 

 weight and filling; and this very compul- 

 sion will, in the end, result in better prices 

 and a more stable market for comb honey. 



The Price of Table Honey not Ma- 

 terially Affected by the war in 



Both comb and extracted honey for table 

 purposes are more than holding their own 

 — at least for the present. Indeed, there 

 has been a slight advance in some quarters. 

 Some dealers have been charging more for 

 their comb honey to make up for the loss 

 occasioned by the net-weight law. This is 

 only natural. Extracted clover is holding 

 firm. How long this condition can be main- 

 tained cannot be determined. Comb honey 

 after the holidays always has a tendency to 

 slump a little. There is no logical reason 

 for this except that honey in the comb 

 cannot readily be shipped in severely cold 

 weather without danger of breakage or 

 leakage. Furthermore, after the first half 

 of the winter is already over, there is the 

 greater probability of the comb honey gran- 

 ulating before it can be sold. 



The fact that the surplusage of the 

 enormous production of fruit in our West- 

 ern States, as mentioned elsewhere, cannot 

 be disposed of as heretofore in the markets 

 of Europe will cause a glut in the markets 

 of this country. A low price on fruit gen- 

 erally has a tendency to depress the price 

 of table honey — or at least that has been 

 'the history of the past. But there is an- 

 other factor in our favor this year that is 

 to be considered. This overplus of fruit 

 will have to be taken care of. The canning- 

 factories will be doing a bigger business, 

 for it will be a good time now to stock up 



