!tOu. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



153 



I \\'a.vlaiKl store, wlii(,'h had been 

 inuuht at 10 cents per ponnd. I had 

 Hit better honey to show than this 

 \ as, and I wanted 15 cents for mine. 



The reason small bee-keepers will 

 <11 at such prices is, they are not 

 Misted on the market value of their 

 iioduce. If we could induce these 

 r lends of ours to attend such meet- 

 iiys ais ours here, such business would 

 topped. It would be more profit- 

 hie for the small bee-keeper to ship 

 i'S honey to the commis,sion man, he 

 ould thus obtain more than he can 

 t the average country store. This is 

 ly experience. I am not paid by the 

 ommission houses to advertise their 

 usiue.ss. but I want to say that it 

 my opinion, they have a right to 

 xist — nay. thej' are a necessary link 

 1 the chain between producer and 

 in.sumer. I ship (juite a little produce 

 » commission houses and seldom ob- 

 lin less than I am offered by produce 

 uyers. I do not yet see how we can 

 3t along without some middle man to 

 andle our product. 

 SuppOiSing our association goes into 

 le Imsiness of liuying up the honey or 

 nal)lishing commission houses in dif- 

 ■rent cities. \Yould it not cost some 

 ling to run them, and would not the 

 •oducer have to foot the bills? 

 If we send Mr. Niver out to sell our 

 >ney. will we not have to pay him? 

 believe the commission principle i«s 

 <^flie right one. and I can not conipre- 

 ■nd in what other way the National 

 isociation or some honey exchange 

 as it is styled in California — could 

 mdle the business. There is not the 

 sh procurable to pay down five per 

 nt on .shipments of honey. Where 

 ould that money come from? the 

 »ney producers have not got it I Tet 

 ly onp explain who knows! 

 I would, of course, urge every pro- 

 (cer of honey to sell all he can in 

 home market. But it is not true 

 Mr. E. R. Root -said before the 

 Louis convention that bee-keepers 

 lo peddle their honey obtain from 

 e-third to one-half more for it: at 

 ist it is not true here. 

 Many times I am unable to ol)tain 

 ■n The whoiesale price (minus the 

 imnission and freiglit) and selling at 

 ail at that: not by the ca,se, but 

 the section. What incentive is there 

 induce a bee-keeper to peddle? 

 Editor Hutchinson said at St. Louis: 

 i'S jioor policy to send your honey 



to a commission house and sit around 

 all winter bottoming chairs or holding 

 down dry goods boxes when good mon- 

 ey ciiu be made selling honey during 

 these leisure months." Well said for 

 Hutchinson, but I would rather ship 

 my honey to a commission house and 

 get my money in a nice big lump and 

 at a higher price than obtainable at 

 home than to fool away a lot of time 

 selling in a small way with many 

 unjileasant experiences thrown in be- 

 sides, even if it was necessary to bot- 

 tom chairs during the winter. For- 

 tunately though, it is not necessarj- 

 for a man to idle away his time in 

 that way, judging others by myself. 



There is only one redeeming feature 

 about this selling honey at home as 

 I see it. It creates a market for our 

 product and relieves the city market 

 of Just that much. It is the city mar- 

 ket that governs the price in a great 

 measure, and the more honey we can 

 keep out of the city the better will 

 be the prices. If therefore, the honey 

 producers acted in union and tried to 

 sell at home as much of their product 

 as pos,sil)le. prices would graduallj^ 

 climb up. I ship very little extracted 

 honey away, but Avhat I did ship to 

 commis-sion men has brought me 10 

 cents net. for fancy white put up in 

 glass. This is as much as is obtain- 

 able here at retail. 



I want to caution the beginner, how- 

 ever, about shipping lioney to ever.v 

 commission house. There are i-eliable 

 firms as well as unreliable ones. If 

 the bee-keeper'-s crop is small he would 

 better sell at home until he becomes 

 known as a honey producer. His repu- 

 tation will be all the more quickl.v 

 established if he goes around peddling, 

 visiting private houses and grocery 

 stores in all near by places. People 

 vvill soon know him as a honey man 

 and inquiries for his honey will come. 

 Then if he 'Sees fit and prices are a(s 

 ceptable he can sell at home or abroad 

 as seems best in hi,s judgment. 



I do not object to the establishing 

 of a honey exchange of a national char- 

 acter. But it seems to me the hind- 

 rances are unsurmountable. It will 

 t:ike a host of clerks to handle the 

 hone.v crop of the I'nited States and 

 it is not to be expected but that an 

 uni)rincipled element will creep in just 

 the same as it does now into the com- 

 mission liouse force. If Mr. France 

 could handle the honey all himself, or 





