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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Who Gets the Profits J 



The California Apiculturist foi" June 

 has the following excellent article, 

 and excepting one or two trifling in- 

 accuracies, it is well worth considera- 

 tion by every honey producer in that 

 sun-gladdened State : 



That there is a large profit made on 

 honey by some one, is quite evident 

 from facts that cannot be denied. 

 That the bee-keeper does not make it 

 is also evident, and only needs past 

 experience to establish the fact. 



We are reliably informed by resi- 

 dents in many of the eastern and 

 western States, that when tliey pur- 

 chase our honey tiiere at retail they 

 pay from 20 to 40 cents per pound for 

 it. Dealers in San Francisco pay from 

 5 to 7 cents for it, and then deduct the 

 weight of the cans at that, leaving 

 the producer from 4 to 5 cents per 

 pound, after deducting freight and 

 all other expenses. Now, who gets the 

 profits ? There is a profit from 15 to 

 30 cents somewhere, and this is not 

 all. The San Francisco dealers often 

 sell and reserve the cans, or repack in 

 small packages in order to secure a 

 larger gain, and then sell the original 



Eackages back to the producer, after 

 aving robbed him of them. This 

 imposition has been, and is un- 

 doubtedly practiced now. The api- 

 culturists of Southern California have 

 openly and publicly denounced this 

 unfairness and have asked, through 

 their associations throughout the 

 honey districts of the State, that a 

 reasonable tare be adopted on cases 

 commonly used for 60 lb. cans, which 

 would be from 12 lbs. to 14 lbs., but 

 their requests have been disregarded, 

 and a tare of 16 lbs. to 18 lbs. has 

 been exacted, these tares including 

 the cans. 



These honey dealers doubtless have 

 a ring and fix their own i)rices, as 

 have tlie fruit packers and other deal- 

 ers done. Nine-tenths of the honey 

 producers in this part of the State are 

 dissatisfied with the San Francisco 

 market and are determined to ship 

 around it to some other market. 

 European dealers are making bids for 

 our products, and many will try the 

 experiment there this season. Ship- 

 ments made to many of our eastern 

 cities have been much more profitable 

 than those made to San Francisco. 

 No deduction for packages are made 

 outside of San Francisco, as far as we 

 have been able to learn. When the 

 retailer sells our honey or other 

 canned goods, he does not deduct the 

 weight of the cans. Why tliis exac- 

 tion from the honey producer ? It is 

 evidently a gross injustice that should 

 not be tolerated. 



Until a different system of market- 

 ing honey is adopted impositions of 

 this kind will be practiced by the 

 swindling rings that control the mar- 

 ket. Why is it that the eastern bee- 

 keepers get a remunerative price for 

 their honey? The reason is plain, 

 they place their honey upon the mar- 

 ket in an attractive form— in small 

 packages, neatly labeled. By the 

 small package system they reach the 



consumer in a more direct manner, 

 thus avoiding the middlemen to a 

 great extent. When we adopt the 

 same system we will avoid swindlers 

 and break up the rings. 



The trifling inaccuracies to which 

 we referred above, are the prices at 

 which California honey usually retails 

 here. For honey in sections they gen- 

 erally rule at about 20 to 30 cents, and 

 extracted retails at about 15 to 20 

 cents ; of course, this is strictly at re- 

 tail, and not in job lots, which are 

 much lower sometimes. But in the 

 main, the sentiments of the article 

 are correct. 



In view of the complications likely 

 to arise, and which had already arisen, 

 the Bee Journal long ago urged 

 upon bee-keepers the necessity for 

 adopting small kegs in making their 

 shipments to distant markets, and 

 the desirableness of 1 lb., 2J^ lb., 5 lb., 

 and 10 lb. tin pails, always neatly and 

 tastefully labeled, and with the name 

 of the producer prominently printed 

 thereon, where intended for retailing 

 to the consumer direct, not only as a 

 practical method of advertising, but 

 as a guarantee to the consumer of the 

 genuineness of the article ; and it is a 

 gratification to allude to the happy re- 

 sults which have been obtained by 

 following the course we suggested. 

 Many progressive bee-keepers are 

 realizing remunerative profits and 

 rapid sales, where formerly their pro- 

 duct was a drug on the market, and 

 their returns anything but satisfac- 

 tory. Where a good, neat package of 

 honey has been sold once at a reason- 

 able price, it is not a difficult matter 

 to sell it again. 



We have always deplored the em- 

 ployment of middle-men where it was 

 possible to dispense with them. Their 

 time is valuable — much more so, usu- 

 ally, than that of the bee-keeper or 

 other producer— their expenses for 

 clerk hire, storage, rent, etc., are 

 large — a considerable capital is re- 

 quired for the successful prosecution 

 of a commission or brokerage busi- 

 ness, for advances to be made and 

 goods lying idle, earning nothing — 

 and all this must be paid by the pro- 

 ducer eventually. The commission 

 man, if honest, will look to the con- 

 signor's interest ; if prudent, will look 

 to his own, and all are prudent. His 

 own percentages must be realized, 

 though the shipper be bankrupted ; 

 claims of the consumer for tare must 

 be rebated, though the producer 

 knows his ovpn scales to be correct, 

 and cooperage claims must be al- 



lowed, though the shipper was never 

 so careful. 



The producer should always be will- 

 ing to allow an honest tare, for if a 

 package be represented to contain a 

 certain number of pounds, it should 

 not fall short one ounce, rather, an 

 ounce over ; but he should carefully 

 weigh the keg or pail before filling, 

 and afterward firmly resist any ex- 

 tortion for tare when selling. 



Avoid rings if possible. They are 

 usually of no benefit to anybody but 

 themselves, and are always organized 

 to encompass some one, either pro- 

 ducer or consumer. The interests of 

 producers and consumers are to a 

 great extent identical; those of the 

 middle-men are antagonistic to one 

 class, and sometimes botti. We are 

 not of opinion that they are dishonest 

 or unfair in their transactions, but 

 with them business is business, and 

 the bulk of the net profit from pro- 

 duce of any kind, most usually re- 

 mains in their own pockets. 



Glucose in California. 



The Apiculturist is evidently in ear- 

 nest in assuming to forward the in- 

 terests of bee-keepers in California, 

 and every person in that State, who 

 is dependent upon apiculture, should 

 give that paper a generous support,, 

 and, if necessary, strain a point to- 

 sustain it. The following spirited 

 article appeared in the June number i 



It is beginning to be doubted 

 whether the cans of " honey " put up 

 by the fruit canneries of San Francisco- 

 contain the genuine article. The 

 member of our company living near 

 San Francisco has heard reports that 

 men who have worked in some of 

 these factories say that tliey do use 

 glucose to mix with the honey they 

 buy at a sacrifice from the produce 

 dealers of San Francisco. A bee- 

 keeper, in writing to our associate, 

 says that he has seen any number of 

 barrels of glucose in front of fruit 

 canning establishments in San Fran- 

 cisco. The associate editor has seen. 

 2 lb. unsealed covered cans of honey 

 offered in stores in and about Oak- 

 land that sell for 30 cents apiece. On 

 asking if they contained pure honey- 

 he was told that " it did not make 

 much difference whether it was or 

 not, so long as consumers could not 

 tell the difference." It seems to us 

 that these factories would not care to 

 can pure honey, for, as is well known, 

 they are for making large profits. If 

 the above statements are true, it is 

 time the practice was stopped. The 

 managers of this journal are about 

 seeking evidence on this score and 

 will, if they are able to make out a 

 case, have complaints sworn out 

 against the violators of the law. It 

 is time that the apiarists put their 



