212 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE April, 1920 



A FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



queens for which I have no record of ever 

 paying him. In fact, I feel sure they were 

 not paid for. He insists that all were paid 

 for, and that I owe him nothing. What 

 shall we do in a case like this — the proposed 

 "code" is of no use here. However, neither 

 one of us has as yet decided to go to court 

 over the matter. J. L. Byer. 



Markham, Ont. 



,9S= 



THE COSTS OF PRODUCTION 



Beekeepers Need to Adopt a Cost Accounting 

 System 



A big retail merchant here, addressing a 

 gathering of merchants recently, said: "We 

 must watch the costs. We must know what 

 it costs us to do business," and then he 

 went on to elucidate. He is reputed to 

 pay liberal salaries, and he keeps his help, 

 and his remarks had to do with other ex- 

 penditures. It set me to thinking of our 

 business of honey production and of how 

 little we know or think of costs save of sup- 

 plies and containers. 



Take any of our trade papers and search 

 them for discussions on production costs, 

 and there is scarcely even a hint that any- 

 one thinks of such things. Everything is on 

 equipment and manipulation, on diseases 

 and on stock. Not a word as to what the 

 manipulation under consideration costs in 

 time; not a whisper as to the capital invest- 

 ed in the equipment; nothing as to interest, 

 upkeep, and depreciation. Plenty of discus- 

 sion as to honey quotations and prices, but 

 no suggestion as to what the honey cost us 

 in dollars and cents. If we do not know 

 what it cost, how can we form any intelli- 

 gent opinion as to what we should sell it 

 for? Is there any other business which 

 could live on such a basis? Judging by the 

 constantly 

 changing ranks 

 of the beekeep- 

 ers, it would 

 seem that 

 many drop out 

 of it. Is it be- 

 cause they 

 could not make 

 it pay? Just 

 because you 

 live and have 

 a little money 

 left over at the 

 end of the 

 year, does not 

 mean that you 

 are making 

 money. It does 

 not mean that 

 you are get- 

 ting a fair re- _, , ,^ ,^ , 



, ° f Prof. Meltons colonic- nn th.j ■ 



turn tor your ^j^^^^ .,j.g ^Y^^ best-kept colonies 

 time and mus- background, 



cle. And if you took account of the depre- 

 ciation of your outfit, of interest, etc., you 

 would probably find that you were behind 

 instead of ahead. 



Unless we have a pretty clear idea of the 

 cost in cash and in labor of the various 

 operations in production, how can we tell 

 where to improve and cut down? With the 

 present prices for honey this subject may 

 not interest you, but consider the increasing 

 cost of supplies, of transportation charges, 

 of labor, and several other things, and then 

 see if you are not interested in studying 

 your business and finding out where you 

 can reduce expenses. The knowledge of 

 these things seems hard to get; we do not 

 seem to know where to look, how to find 

 out the costs of the various operations, how 

 to estimate depreciation, and the keeping 

 track of the time seems too much bother to 

 most men. As for bookkeeping, outside of 

 a simple account of amount received and 

 paid, scarcely any one knows anything about 

 it. 



Some years ago I tried to interest bee- 

 keepers in this subject, but only two or 

 three persons made any response. Since 

 then the National Government has been 

 conducting a campaign of education on farm 

 bookkeeping, and perhaps the time is now 

 more propitious for taking up the subject of 

 honey-cost accounting. I asked a number 

 of big producers what it cost them to pro- 

 duce a pound of honey, and the replies rang- 

 ed from one cent to twenty cents. In most 

 eases I knew it was merely a guess. If you 

 guess it is costing you one cent while it is 

 actually costing you twenty, you will have 

 little trouble ' * guessing ' ' when and where 

 your finish will be. If you know exactly 

 what it costs you per pound, you will know 

 just how low an offer to accept if competi- 

 tion is sharp, or if the market is overstocked 



uuipus (if I'luitlaiiil Institute. Mr. Slattery claims 

 in Henderson County. From the mountains in the 

 sourwood honey is gathered. 



