1905. 



THI^ AMEIUCAX BEIvKEEPEIl. 



69 



appears to eomiuoiiee wliou be begins 

 to exfliaiige his liarcl-earued liouey for 

 casli. Let us see: after selling his 

 last year's crop at $3.00 per case of 24 

 sections, be quotes the same market 

 this year at $2.2.".. Taking his own 

 figures, and .supposing the 24 section-s 

 to weigh 22 1-2 pounds that would be 

 10 cents a pound, less freight and cart- 

 age, 29 cents, commission 10 per cent. 

 22c making a little over 2 l-4c a 

 pound, as the expense of selling. Ten 

 cents less 2 l-4c would leave 7 3-4c for 

 No. 1 Avbite section honey, with the 

 items of labor and material, interest 

 on capital inveisted. etc., still to be 

 deducted. After quoting figures 

 similar to the above, he asks "What 

 has l)rought about such a state of 

 affairs? and what is the remedy?" 

 The first question "What has brought 

 about such a state of affairs? is a 

 debatable one. Some will claim it is 

 an overproduction, while others will in- 

 sist that it is caused by the large 

 quantitj' of poor-grade honey that has 

 been put on the market during these 

 three last cold -seasons, when it ha« 

 taxed the skill of our best bee-keepers 

 to produce a good article. Still others 

 will lu'ge us to organize, so that we 

 can unite and advei'tise om- honey; so 

 the consuming public will better un- 

 derstand the merits of honey as a 

 health food, etc. 



I think, however, we will all agree 

 that we should strive to. produce the 

 best article we can, either of comb or 

 extracted honey, then, after producing 

 a good article, put it up in the best 

 possible shape for the mai-ket, being 

 v^eiy careful in grading so a^s not to get 

 in inferior article mixed with our bet- 

 ter grades; for the buyer is alwaj^s try- 

 ng to buy as cheap as possible; which 

 s natural, and if he finds No. 2 sec- 

 ions of honey mixed through our No. 

 L, he will be quite likely (and with 

 ■eas'on) to ti-y to settle with us on a 

 *^o. 2 basis. As Mr. .Tohnsion gets the 

 )est price in the market he sold in, 

 hese last remarks do not apply to 

 |iim. 



Mr. .Johnson is woiTied about the 

 arge 1)ee-keepers of the west organiz- 

 ng, fearing they will eventually drive 

 he small bee-keeper of one or two 

 lundred colonies out o business. Quiet 

 our fears, Mr. Johnson. You may be 

 uprised when I tell you that they are 

 ombining their crops together to ship 



east in car lots, to save freight. They 

 are trying to secure the advantages 

 you already have; or, in other words, 

 they are [laying freight east to, say, 

 Chicago. Still, after paying this 

 freight their honey is not worth a cent 

 more than is your own at your rail- 

 way station, quality being the same. 



Looking at the problem in this light, 

 things are wot so bad after all. In the 

 first place, I think Mr. Johnson made 

 a mistake in sending his honey to a 

 commission hou-se and paying nearly 

 25 per cent in freight, cartage and 

 commissions. Better supply yourself 

 with mailing blocks to mail samples 

 of your extracted honey. Then put a 

 notice in the American Bee-Keeper 

 that you have honey for sale, and you 

 will mail a sample of the extracted, 

 to prospective buyers free of charge. 



Honey dealers all take bee jour- 

 nals, so any of them needing honey 

 will be likely to write you. You will 

 have no ti'ouble in selling your comb 

 honey at a good price, but your ex- 

 tracted may not go so fast. But if 

 the dealer finds that you have a 

 ,super!ior article, you will npt have 

 nuich troulde to dispose of even the 

 extracted. 



I speak from quite an extended ex- 

 perience in this mode of selling honey, 

 having sold nearly 40,000 pounds most- 

 ly extracted, during the last two 

 years in this way at prices way above 

 those ^Nlr. Johnson quotes. Our No. 1 

 and fancy white comb in 4x.§*~t)laiu 

 sections selling at 14 to 16c, and white 

 extracted in 60-lb cans at 7 to 8c, on 

 car here. Had you not better look 

 this matter up, Mr. Johnson by asking 

 a good fair price for your honey? You 

 not only help yourself but the frater- 

 luty at large. Think the matter over. 

 Mr. Richard Curry, page 24, I quote in 

 early spring, if you find too much old 

 honey in yonr hives, consequently your 

 queens cramped for room' to deposit 

 their eggs, you can use your extractoi- 

 to advantage. Not so up here in 

 Michigan, Mr. Curry. If a colony has 

 room in their brood nest during fall to 

 breed up a swarm, numerous enough 

 to winter, then, their usual amount be- 

 ing consumed during winter you will 

 not need to use your extractor during 

 spring; even if the hive is 2-3 full of 

 honey when the breeding season opens 

 in early spring. Let them have it all 

 and take my word for it, that honey 



