Dec 



1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



ni 



16 cents I quote 15 cents. The one cent is allowed for com- 

 mission, but I do not handle honey on commission. 



Dr. Miller — That is the point upon which we need in- 

 struction. If honey is quoted 13 and 14 cents, I understand 

 that that quotation means that we will gret 13 and 1+ cents, 

 less the commission, frei<clit, etc. 



Pres. Whitcomb — Freig-ht and cartage must come out, 

 leaving- about 10 cents. If what Mr. Selsersaysis true, then 

 we have been fooling ourselves out of one cent a pound. The 

 bee-men in the country don't know what they will get for 

 their honey. There has been a good deal said about com- 

 mission men. I have many friends among them, but they 

 do not handle honey. If you go to a doUar-and-a-half hotel 

 you don't expect to find a four-dollar hotel. If we want the 

 best class of honey we go to the producer. The commission 

 man never will do justice to honey, for he often handles a 

 poor article. 



Mr. Danzenbaker — I have been a farmer, and when I 

 had anything to sell I had no trouble in getting a g-ood 

 price. I sent a sample of beeswax to a dealer, and he of- 

 fered me 27"; cents per pound. I kept back ten pounds of 

 the was because I thought it was not good enough. He 

 sent me 28 cents — one-half cent more than I expected. I 

 know a commission man who bought comb honey, and as 

 he didn't want to bother with it, it was allowed toget dusty, 

 and a man came along and paid 8 cents for it. I sometimes 

 let commission men sell honey for me. If I have honey- 

 that is a little " off " I don't want people to know it is mine, 

 so I take it to a commission man and I set the price. 



Mr. Hershiser — I think Mr. Danzenbaker is right. 

 When I leave honey with a commission man I set the price. 

 This year I left honey witli a commission man, and he was 

 offered S cents for it. I said I would not sell honey for 5 

 cents, so he gave the man my address and I sold it to him 

 for 7 cents. The bee-keeper knows what the net price 

 would be ; it is only necessary for him to set the price. 



Mr. York — One reason why I do not believe in the com- 

 mission business is the great temptation to be dishonest 

 when doing business that way. It is too great for many 

 commission men to resist. 



Mr. Niver— I was down on the Elk Street market in 

 Buifalo, and I saw some very nice clover honey there. I 

 askt the man in charge the price. He said " 12 cents." I 

 told him honey was scarce this year, and this was worth IS 

 cents. He said no, honey was not worth more than 12 cents. 

 His name is Townsend, and he quotes prices in Gleanings 

 in Bee-Culture. 



Mr. Hershiser — I was down there on the market after 

 Mr. Niver was there, and he was selling it for 12 '2 cents. 



Mr. Root — There is one thing that the bee-papers can 

 do — they can refuse to quote commission prices. We don't 

 want to be hasty, but it will perhaps be best to limit quota- 

 tions to a cash basis. 



Mr. Niver— Mr. Townsend told me that it was none of 

 mj' business. 



Mr. Hershiser — Commission men are apt to speak a lit- 

 tle short, especially to honey-men. I don't think we ought 

 to be too hard on them if they show a disposition to be hon- 

 est. In Pittsburg the markets are a little higher than any- 

 where else, because the honey-flora is scarce around there. 



Dr. Mason — Is a man honest when he sells honey that 

 Mr. Niver says is worth 15 cents for 12 cents ? 



Mr. Hershiser— I think so. I don't believe in assailing 

 a man's honesty. 



Mr. Niver— I don't wish to assail Mr. Townsend's hon- 

 esty, for I know the man, but I thought he was a little short. 

 He had no right to say it was none of my business. 



Mr. York — Batterson i& Co. were lately quoting bees- 

 wax at 30 cents a pound. I wrote them, offering- them some 

 fine wax at 28 cents ; they then offered 26 cents delivered in 

 Buffalo ! Of course, I didn't ship any to them. This over- 

 quoting of the market ought to be stopt ; also the taking of 

 over 10 percent commission. 



Mr. Poppleton— I don't like Mr. Selser's quotations. He 

 should quote the selling price. 



Mr. Danzenbaker — I could sell honey to one man for 

 only 15 cents, but quotations fixt it at 16 cents. Whenever 

 I have found a commission man that didn't know prices, I 

 bought the honey he had, and kept up the price. 



Dr. Mason — If I were selling honey thru commission 

 men I'd like Mr. Selser's way. Then we know just what we 

 will get. 



Mr. Selser — In regard to these quotations, Mr. Popple- 

 ton has hinted at a very good point, and that is, that it costs 

 a great deal more to send honey from Florida than from 

 New York. Who fixes the price of honey? When I quote 

 honey I don't go to commission men to find out prices. I 



am governed by supply and demand. When I went to col- 

 lege my professor taught me that a thing was worth only 

 ■what it would bring-. If I start out and fix a price for comb 

 honey, and I see that there is a great deal of comb honey in 

 the market, and it will not bring what I have quoted it at, I 

 offer it for a lower price. 



Mr. Hutchinson — It seems to me that the simplest way 

 is for the commission men to quote the price of honey. We 

 know what freight will cost. How does he know just what 

 it will bring ? 



Mr. Danzenbaker — When I see his quotation I know 

 what he will paj-. 



Mr. Selser — Mr. Danzenbaker is correct, and yet he is 

 not. I don't g-o to the commission man to buy honey. I 

 g-et it from the producers. 



Dr. Miller — I am inclined to believe that Mr. Selser is 

 incorrect about what other firms' quotations mean. Some 

 would make this mistake : There is no commission to come 

 out of his, while with others there would be commission. 

 There ought to be some way that we could be sure. I ought 

 to know before I write what the commission is. Here are 

 two points equally distant from me. and I ought to know if 

 there is a difference in commission. I believe there of ten is. 



Mr. Wander — Why would it not be a good idea to have 

 a committee, and let that committee be the editors of honey 

 quotations in the bee-papers ; and knowing all about it they 

 can intluenee prices. 



Pres. Whitcomb — The scheme is to quote large prices. 



Mr. Root — I think we as editors might do a great deal. 

 Awhile ago I wrote an article about this, and if you noticed 

 the price advanced in a very sliort time. In reg-ard to com- 

 mission, there was one time when commission men charged 

 10 percent. 



Mr. Abbott — Did you ever have this trouble, where com- 

 mission men quote prices when they have no honey ? 



Mr. York — A commission man in Chicago said that no 

 man can do business there on a S-percent commission. 



Mr. Hutchinson — Do you suppose the 5-percent men 

 would allow their names to be used ? 



Mr. York — I think not. Ten percent is about right. 



F. G. Herman — Mr. York, can't they make a limit in 

 the price of honev on commisssion ? 



Mr. York— Yes. 



Mr. Root — We ought to know if honey is scarce. 



Mr. Hershiser — It is about one-third of a crop this year. 



At this point Mr. York proposed the following amend- 

 ment to the constitution of the Association, and after thoro 

 discussion it was recommendc/d for adoption : 



Whenever a local bee-keepers' association shall decide to unite with 

 this association as a body, it will be received upon payment by the local 

 secretary- of 50 cents per member per annum, providini^ that the local 

 association's membership dues are at least SI. 00. 



Mr. Howe thought the local secretaries had enough to 

 do without added work. 



There was a rambling discussion as to the benefits of 

 membership in this Association at this point that the re- 

 porter failed to get, but it was proven to the satisfaction of 

 all present that membership in the Association is a practi- 

 cal benefit. 



Dr. Miller — Membership is a practical benefit. 



Mr. York — A year ago the Red Cross Society were doing 

 relief work in Cuba. They wanted a dollar a piece from 

 individuals to carry on their work. I paid my dollar. It 

 didn't help me. but I was not sorrj' I paid the dollar, for it 

 helpt others. If membership in this Association helps to 

 prevent adulteration, won't it pay ? This world is awfully 

 selfish. The average person, I am sorry to say, seems to 

 want to get 75 cents worth for an investment of 25 cents. 

 [Continued ne.vt week.] 



York's Honey Almanac is a neat little 32-page pamph- 

 let especially g-otten up -with a view to create a demand for 

 honey among should-be consumers. Aside from the Alma- 

 nac pag'es, the forepart of the pamphlet was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to general information concern- 

 ing honey. The latter part consists of recipes for use in 

 cooking and as a medicine. It will be found to be a very 

 effective helper in working up a hoine market for honey. 

 We furnish them, postpaid, at these prices : A sample for 

 a stamp ; 25 copies for 40 cents ; 50 for 70 cents ; 100 for 

 $1.00 ; 250 for S2.25 ; 500 for $4.00. For 25 cents extra we 

 will print your name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. 



The Premiums offered on page 782 are well worth work- 

 ing for. Look at them. 



