1904 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



55 



CAN TVE GET MORE FOR OUR 

 HONEY. 



I 



By Mrs. S. A. Smith. 



NOTICE, Mr, Editor, what is be- 

 ing said about trying to force up 

 the price of honey, by we produe- 



Our good friend, Dr. Miller, says 

 that, if enough would join the N. B.-K. 

 A., then they could have wnough mon- 

 ey to do something in this line. 



In September Review, the editor 

 says if the money of the National is 

 not used to defend members who go 

 to law justly, they will soon have too 

 much money. Also, if it is not used 

 for that, what will they use it for? 

 Does the N. B.-K. A. wish to help raise 

 the price of honey? 



I remember when there were two 

 associations and what was to be done 

 if they would only join hand and 

 hearts. They have done well, but I 

 would like to ask, if they have not 

 lost sight of a great deal that they 

 started out to do? 



The way to raise the price of honey, 

 is to raise it. Set an honest price, and 

 then stick to that price. Do not under- 

 sell another bee-keeper one cent. If 

 you do so today, tomorrow the other 

 seller will be asked to undersell you; 

 and the next day you will be asked 

 to keep the ball rolling. Do not begin! 

 I say. 



Be verj- careful of your honey. 

 Honey that is unripe, unskimmed and 

 exposed to the air in large tanks or 

 perhaps open vessels, in any humid 

 climate, cannot be first-class, and I 

 have truly seen just such honey for 

 sale, and was asked by the grocer for 

 my opinion as to whiether it was honey 

 or some other sturt". If you use your 

 honey that way, you should not have 

 anything for it. Keep it sealed, as 

 the bees do. Who can handle honey 

 better than they. One lady told me, 

 our honey had such a nice perfume 

 about it, she said she knew it came 

 from the flowers by that. 



If you are near two or three other 

 bee-keepers, meet and agree on the 

 price of your honey, and then stick to 

 that price. 



If you are too far off, postage is 

 cheap. If you think your honey is the 

 best, send them samples, 'and get 

 samples of theirs. If one is the best 



then the price should be fixed accord- 

 ingly. We will all help one another 

 to produce the honey but when it 

 comes to marlveting, that's another 

 story. 



If the wholesale market is low, do 

 not help it down lower, with your 

 honey. Fruit must be shipped when 

 ripe, but we can keep our product for 

 months. Then why hurry it off just 

 as soon as taken from the hives? 



If you say "I must sell, for I need 

 the money very much," just ask your- 

 self this: "What would I have done 

 for money if I had failed to get a 

 crop ?'' 



As it is a very uncertain business, 

 you often do not have the crop to 

 sell; what did you do then? 



Keep your credit good at your bank, 

 and see which will pay the best, to 

 borrow money to live on, or sell your 

 honey for anything you can get for 

 it? 



I can assure every bee-keeper that 



there is a consumer who is just as 



anxious to get your honey, as you are 



f jr. and at a good price, 



too. 



There is too much difference be- 

 tween the wholesale and retail price. 

 Think of honey selling in New York 

 for 4 1-2 cents per pound, and the 

 poor who can not afford to eat it, for 

 by the time it reaches them it costs 

 10 cents a spoonful. 



If the X. B.-K. A. wishes to use their 

 money to help bee-Iceepers, why not 

 loan money on honey, and keep it out 

 of the market until the market is 

 ready for it? 



Take all the bee journals you have 

 and see if each year the market has 

 not been good at some date during the 

 year. 



I believe in the end the consumer 

 will go to the. store and buy his honey 

 both comb and extracted, in a tin can, 

 and that can will be just the same as 

 fruit and vegetables are canned in. 

 A label will tell what is in the can. 



Why should honey be put up in 

 glass? Why not demand our meat, 

 fruit, fish and everything else put in 

 glass? Would poor people buy a great 

 deal if it was? 



If the N. B.-K. A., or some other 

 association, would put tinned honey 

 on the market, and advertise the same 

 as Swift, Fairbanks and everything 

 else is advertised, then both sides 



