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"The Question of Supplies.'' 



(A paper read by C. F. Bender of Newman, 111., at the recent meeting of 

 the Illinois State Beekeepers' Convention, and printed in the American Bee 

 Journal for January, 1921.) 



Having been called upon for a paper 

 to be read before this convention, it 

 seemed to rae that a full discussion of 

 this subject from the beekeeper 's stand- 

 point might be of interest. I wish to 

 assure you at the outset, that I am in 

 no way interested in the sale of bee 

 supplies, but view the matter^ solely as 

 a purchaser. Having decided upon my 

 own policy with regard to the purchase 

 of supplies for the coming season, it 

 may be useful to give you the facts and 

 fancies on which that decision is based. 



I have just returned from a month's 

 vacation in which I visited some of the 

 largest supply factories, making a 

 leisurely visit at each, witli a view to 

 learning present conditions, as well as 

 future prospects. I will confess that I 

 went as a missionary to these benighted 

 brethren, saying: Lo, the poor bee man! 

 How is he to pay war prices for his 

 supplies, and take a chance on selling 

 his huney next fall? 



I was surprised to find tliat they were 

 already true believers. They knew all 

 that I had to tell, and much more. In- 

 stead of darkly plotting how they were 

 to keep up the prices of supplies, they 

 were anxiously and even prayerfully 

 considering how these prices might be 

 reduced. They told me that the factories 

 must be run through the winter, if the 

 demand next summer is to be supplied; 

 that if they are run through this win- 

 ter, materials and labor must be pur- 

 chased at prices that average less than 

 10 per cent below the highest war 

 prices. Coal and iron, lumber, beeswax, 

 labor, were still selling at astonishing 

 prices. Freight rates on those materials 

 were higher than ever before. Taxes 

 were a burden, interest on borrowed 

 capital unusually high, and in many 

 cases borrowed money was not to be had 

 at any price. Considering all these 

 things, it would be folly to store a large 

 stock of supplies, in the hope of selling 

 them next summer. The only course left 

 was to run the factories short-lianded, 

 storing only such a stock as would cer- 

 tainly be sold, at nearly the present 



level of prices. This in the hope, not of 

 making a large profit, but of avoiding a 

 heavy loss. 



It seems to me that our problem, 

 while apparently the same as that of 

 the manufacturers, is really different, 

 because the labor employed is largely 

 our own. Unless we are to abandon our 

 business entirely, it will not profit us 

 to limit the production of honey be- 

 cause our supplies cost us twenty per 

 cent more than they will probably cost 

 us a year later. It will not even pay us 

 to limit increases on account of the 

 high prices of hives, because the net 

 profit per colony for one season will 

 more than cover any probable reduction 

 in the price of hives during that year. 



If these statements are accepted as 

 facts, there only remains for us one 

 possible question. Shall we buy our sup- 

 plies now, so far as we can foresee our 

 needs, or shall we wait until spring or 

 summer, in the hope of getting them 

 cheaper? In my mind that question, 

 also, is easil_y answered. I have tried to 

 show you that the factories and dealers 

 are carrying only small stocks, and that 

 a normal demand during the busy sea- 

 son cannot be supplied. Consequently, if 

 we wait until the last moment, there is 

 danger, not only that we shall be 

 obliged to pay higher prices, but that 

 we shall not get our supplies at all. 



Our 0}i]y consolations are, that we 

 have used some low-priced supplies in 

 the production of high-priced honey — 

 that, as we have gone up with the com- 

 mercial balloon, we must come down as 

 it cools off, as other producers are doing, 

 and must content ourselves with reduc- 

 ed i>rofits, hoping for better times in 

 the years to come. 



My prediction is tliat the lowest 

 prices for supplies during the year will 

 be those quoted in the January cata- 

 logs. Acting on that belief, I have al- 

 ready ordered my supplies for the next 

 season and expect to do business at the 

 old stand, in quite the usual manner, in 

 1921. 



The A. I. Root Company 



Medina, Ohio. 



