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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



1 



IT IS with very groat satisfiu-tioii tliat 

 we announce that Geo. S. Denuith, assistant 

 to Dr. E. F. Phillips 

 Geo. S. Demuth in the department 

 to Join Our" of Bee Culture In- 



Editorial vestigations, Wash- 



Staff, ington, I). C, is to 



become the active 

 editor and directing hand in Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture. It gives us this great satis- 

 faction to announce Mr. Demuth 's coming 

 to Gleanings, because we believe it will be 

 welcomed as good news b.v our every reader, 

 and because we believe Mr. Demuth to be 

 one of the best-informed beekeepers and 

 investigators in this country. Not only this, 

 but he is a very successful beekeeper him 

 self, year in and year out, and he has the 

 confidence of beekeepers from coast to 

 coast, and from Canada to the Rio Grande, 

 as very few American beekeeper authori- 

 ties have ever had. He measures full up 

 to a leader in beekeeping. 



A personal word ■will be pardoned the 

 writer, who for 35 years has borne the re- 

 sponsibility for the editing of this .journal. 

 In giving over the chief responsibility for 

 its editorship to other hands, I am not giv- 

 ing up my interest in Gleanings' welfare 

 nor withdrawing from its editorial steff. 

 I expect at least to fill the part of what 

 might be called field editor, w^riting for it 

 and gathering new material for its columns 

 in my extensive travels over the country. 

 I shall also counsel as to its policies and 

 features at all times, and retain a keen 

 interest in its every issue. 



But with the oncoming of the years, new 

 ami ever increasing duties in connection 

 with The A. I. Root Company's large busi- 

 ness affairs and an ever more insistent call 

 to be out in the field anil there keeping 

 touch with every beekeeping interest, have 

 more and more encroached upon my time 

 and energies. So it has seemed advisable 

 to delegate to other hands the guidance and 

 first-han<I work of editing Gleanings. 



Mr. Demuth will come to the head of 

 (tieanings editorial staff about Nov. 1, next, 

 and will have got comfortably fitted to the 

 editorial chair by the beginning of a new 

 year. I am certain that every American 

 beekeeper will welcome him to his new 

 jtosition of great usefulness at the 'editorial 

 helm of Gleanings. 



K. H. iJoot. 



THE AVERAGE j.rice at which honey 

 is now quoted by the Bureau of Markets, 

 is slightly h i g h e i- 

 Handling than last October; 



This Year's but, as is unusual at 



Honey Crop. this time of the 



year, the movement 

 is slow and the market dull. This, of it- 

 self, is no cause for worry to the honey- 

 producer; but there are a few new factors 

 that should be recognized. 



The present financial condition of the 

 country, the decreasing price of sugar, and 

 the good honey crop this year have caused 

 some producers to sell their entire cro)) at 

 a first-offer price. This fiooding of the 

 market has, of course, somewhat depressed 

 the price of honey. A great many of the 

 bookkeepers, because of the high prices of 

 other commodities, feel that they cannot 

 afford to sell under present conditions and 

 are holding for prices as high as last year 

 or higher. 



It is quite right that producers should 

 obtain such a price; but, with the present 

 crop of honey and the warj^ attitude of 

 wholesalers who have not yet recovered 

 from the jolt that many of them got in the 

 sudden decline of sugar prices, it is doubt- 

 ful whether beekeepers should hold their 

 honey for wholesale disposal. 



This year we believe is unusual, and, as 

 we have previously said, w'hether or not 

 the beekeeper obtains a fair price for his 

 honey will this year depend upon himself 

 more than ever before. The solution to the 

 whole problem, as we see it, is the local 

 distribution of the producer's crop thruout 

 his own and neighboring towns. No matter 

 how good one 's local trade may be, the 

 chances are that if it is given business-like 

 attention, it may easily be doubled or treb- 

 led this year. Systematic advertising thru 

 the local jjapers and regularity in canvass- 

 ing will do wonders in disposing of the 

 crop. It has always been a great mistake 

 for beekeei)ers to dispose of their honey all 

 at once. The honey should be sold grad- 

 ually, if. sold at all this season, and the 

 price thus stabilized. A beekeeper who 

 |)roduces a line grade of honey and works 

 up a dej)en(lable trade that remains ac- 

 tive thruont the year, has a valuable as- 

 set that cannot bo taken from him. Let 

 l»eekeej)ers not be caught naiJjiing, but let 

 them obtain what their honey is artiially 

 worth. 



