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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



November 1 



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mind not merely the convenience of packing, but to have some 

 regard for the convenience of those at the other end of the 

 line. 



It would be unfair not to make grateful mention of great 

 advance in this direction. The last considerable shipment of 

 supplies I received was a lot of shipping-cases. It wasn't this 

 year ! Each package was complete in itself, containinc; all the 

 parts needed for so many shippiug-cases, there was no need 

 to open another package till all in that had been used up, just 

 the right amount of each kind of pieces, the right number and 

 the right kind of nails — I tell you, it was a real pleasure to 

 know that some one had been studying, not how to get 

 through with his job in the easiest way possible, but to make 

 my job as pleasant as possible. 



One of the great evils is the trying to have everything at 

 as low a price as possible, without regard to lasting quality or 

 permanent value. Just so the price is low. I don't know 

 whether beekeepers or manufacturers are most to blame for 

 this. The result is some tendency toward sham and shoddy. 



Another evil running parallel with this is, going to ex- 

 tremes with the matter of uniformity. 



It's a good thing to have goods at low prices, and it helps 

 toward this to have only one variety of an article for all, but 

 it's carrying the thing a little too far when a standard article 

 is so cheapened in price that it betomes flimsy, and thus dear 

 in the long run, so that those who want a good article, and are 

 willing to pay for it a fair price are obliged to pay an extra 

 price because of having goods made to order. Instead of 

 catering to the desire for extremely low prices with little re- 

 gard to real value, it might be to the interest of all concerned 

 if manufacturers would do their pushing in the direction of 

 better goods at fair prices. 



I want a good frame with metal spacers, and I am told 

 such a frame cannot be on the regular list because such 

 spacers would be in the way of the uncapping-knife, and altho 

 I work entirely for comb honey, and altho frames in the brood- 

 chamber are less and less used for extracting, yet for the re- 

 mote possibility that some time I may change my plans and 

 want to use brood-combs for extracting, I am told that such 

 frames as I want would break in on entire uniformity, so I 

 must fall in line and use frames I don't want and don't like, 

 or else pay an extra price as a penalty for varying from the 

 standard. I submit that's carrying uniformity a little too far. 



A good many believe — and perhaps no one disputes it — 

 that the most satisfactory hive-cover, and the cheapest in the 

 long run, is one covered with tin. Will you show me such a 

 cover listed in any catalog ? Those who want them and will 

 have them must pay the extra price for varying. Would it 

 not be a wise thing for manufacturers to encourage, rather 

 than to discourage, what they must believe for the best good 

 of bee-keepers, by putting such goods on their lists, even if 

 the price must be high? Give us the chance, at least, for get- 

 ting the best goods, if we are willing to pay the price, and 

 encourage beginners to get what will be the cheapest in the 

 long run. 



Now that's enough to start on, and I'll listen to what 

 others desire, and especially to what manufacturers and 

 dealers desire on the part of bee-keepers. C. C. Miller. 



A. I. Root — In regard to the idea of marking on the out- 

 side of packages what is on the inside, I know that I did a 

 good deal of scolding about that a couple of years ago. Almost 

 all kinds of our supplies now have a list on the outside of the 

 package, indicating what is inside. The modern way of put- 

 ting up goods is to put a printed slip on the odtside indicating 

 what is inside. That can be done very easily by having a 

 printed slip for regular goods. Certain things we put up in 

 regular packages so they can be put up in quantity, and then 

 these goods are markt on a printed list aud the printed list 

 can be gummed on the outside of the package. We can 

 easily do that when the goods are regular, but when somebody 

 orders something special, or orders goods modified in a special 

 way, it is harder. During this last season, when there was 

 such a rush, I am afraid our folks were not so exact about 

 that, to stick to that plan of marking the goods on the outside 

 of the cases. 



Mr. Masters — I would like to give the supply dealers an 

 idea or two. I have been buying supplies for the last ten or 

 a dozen years, and there is one thing I have always objected 

 to, and that is putting the heart side of a board inside. I 

 want the heart side of a board outside. I often have covers 

 come to me with the heart side below. 



A. I. Root — From our place? 



Mr. Masters — Yes, sir; from your place. It is almost im- 

 possible to keep them from springing. I have thought that I 

 would write to the manufacturers in regard to the matter, but 

 I have not done it. I think this is just the place to speak of 



it. That is the main complaint I have to make. I hope you 

 will reform and not do it again. 



Dr. Miller — There is one little item that I want to speak 

 about— I think all bee-keepers will appreciate it: I mean the 

 item of nails. I get some goods and I don't know, to begin 

 with, the kind of nails I should have. When I have found 

 out the kind of nails I should have, when I go to the hard- 

 ware store perhaps I can't find the right kind there. And If I 

 do find them, I don't know how many I want, and I will likely 

 get more or less than I want, and may be I will get the goods 

 partly made up and then have to wait until the next time I go 

 to town, or else make a special trip. When you can be sure 

 of getting just the right kind of nails, and just the right num- 

 ber, and all ready to be used, it is a big thing. It is that sort 

 of thing that I am glad to see the manufacturers are looking 

 after. They are doing these things, as I said in my paper, 

 and as I thoroughly believe, not because they are good men, 

 but because they want to make money out of us fellows who 

 are buying, and they are trying to do the best they can for us. 

 They are wise in their generation. If any of you can think of 

 something you want them to do for us, just tp|l them. They 

 are not doing as much as they ought toward making a demand 

 for better goods. They are rather catering to the demand for 

 low-priced goods, and that is too apt to mean shoddy goods. 



Mr. Westcott — I have no kick to make at all on the manu- 

 facturers, excepting once in awhile. That is, as a general 

 thing I receive good goods whenever I order ; but once in 

 awhile when I write for a half dozen or a dozen hives, I find 

 there will be an end that is not good, while the rest will be 

 perfectly good. It is a good deal of work for a man to go to 

 work and make a hive end or a side. So far as the nail ques- 

 tion is concerned, I don't think that amounts to anything. I 

 think all of us can buy nails enough to have plenty on 

 hand. 



Dr. Miller^About those bad pieces of wood : Sometimes 



1 have a package of stuff for 500 frames, and I go to wor'K 

 making them up. Here is a bad piece, here another bad 

 piece. I lay them all aside, and by and^by I have enough 

 bad pieces to make a bad frame, and I don't make it. [Laugh- 

 ter.] 



A. I. Root — We have an inspector who is a very careful 

 man. If he has any fault, he throws out stuff that is too good 

 to throw away. I have enjoined the boys to keep the quality 

 of the goods up ; if other manufacturers want to make cheap 

 goods, let them do it. The boys sometimes think it is a pretty 

 hard state of affairs to let other parties cut below our prices 

 and take orders out of our hands. What shall we do ? Shall 

 we put in poor stuff in order to meet competitors' prices, or 

 shall we hold up the quality of the goods? If there is any- 

 thing that I insist upon more than another it is that we want 

 to keep up the quality of "the goods. Cheap John goods don't 

 pay. If I was ever on the other side of the question. I beg 

 pardon. 



Mr. Danzenbaker — I would like to say a word about No. 



2 sections. There are a few dealers in the country who are 

 buying these sections and selling them as No. 1, aud the peo- 

 ple who buy them think they are buying No. 1. That reflects 

 upon the manufacturer. The dealer buys them from the 

 manufacturer as No. 2, and then sells them for No. 1, and 

 charges No. 1 price. I know several men who are doing it. 

 Then there was something said about nails. I agree with Dr. 

 Miller about the nails. I think that is one of the greatest 

 favors the manufacturers do us. I live in a large city, 

 where there are large hardware stores, and sometimes 

 I have gone to half a dozen stores without finding the size and 

 kind of nails I wanted. Where I did find them, I would find 

 that I must buy a whole pound, when 1 only wanted a few. 

 Out in the country towns where there are only one, two or 

 three stores, you might not be able to find nails at all of the 

 right size. And if you undertake to nail up the hives or 

 frames with nails that are not of the right size, you are apt to 

 split and ruin your stuff. Only sometimes the nails sent are 

 a little scant. In putting up ten hives, I have lackt just 

 enough for one hive. 



Dr. Miller — My experience is rather the reverse of that. 

 I am getting ready to set up a hardware store of my own with 

 the extra nails I have accumulated. They always send me a 

 great many. I think very likely Mr. Danzenbaker enjoys 

 driving nails pretty well. 



Mr. Aoklin — In St. Paul and Minneapolis it is almost im- 

 possible to get nails of the right size. The nails we get there 

 would split any kind of hive-stuff. A great many of our cus- 

 tomers have spoken of what a great satisfaction it was to have 

 the nails sent with the goods. Some have spoken of a short- 

 age, and we would find out that they had put in more nails 

 than were called for on the printed slips of directions. 



Mr. DeLong — I want to ask if there is any difference be- 



