58 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15 



tide. This should be encouraged every- 

 where; aud let every locality so org-anize; 

 but be sure to recognize the National Honey - 

 producers' Association by leaving a place 

 to couple on when the latter organization 

 has been perfected. 



Grading-rules will be discussed so that 

 they will be uniform as nearly as possible. 

 When the official grader of the National 

 Honey-producers' Association takes a sam- 

 ple out of a case of honey, this sample is 

 then placed in a sample bottle, and the 

 bottle is then placed in a hole that has pre- 

 viously been bored in the center-piece of the 

 shipping case, so when the honey in any 

 case needs to be sampled it will not be nec- 

 essary to break the seal, but simply lift the 

 sample bottle from the center-board and 

 you have the correct sample before you; and 

 that, too, in the proper form so you can see 

 it. 



I again suggest that every well-to-do bee- 

 keeper, or any other one of good standing 

 where there is no commercial organization, 

 take the responsibility upon himself and 

 effect such an organization. The plan of 

 the Colorado Hone3^-producers' Ass'n is a 

 good one. It is very much like ours, and 

 perhaps the Colorado plan is better known 

 than some other. Have a central place to 

 transact the business; also a business man- 

 ager to do the business, whose duty should 

 be to grade, seal, and sell all the products 

 of its members. Except the honey sold at 

 retail, all honey sold at retail by any pro- 

 ducer will be free from any charge of the 

 Association. And any member who can 

 turn over to the manager of the local Asso- 

 ciation an order for a car of honey will re- 

 ceive a specified per cent of the sale of the 

 same, up to the amount of his own product. 

 This the local Association can just as well 

 do as to pay it to some broker; and in this 

 way the producer who now has a trade, 

 and is selling by the carload lot, will still 

 retain his customers, and it will be made 

 an object for him to do so; and the same 

 way with the retail man. He will not be 

 called upon for a commission for the honey 

 that he sells in this way, by retail — I mean 

 in lots less than carloads; so you will see 

 that it encourages the selling of the honey 

 by the members, both in small and car lots, 

 and at the same time it is the strictest kind 

 of co-operation, and not competition as we 

 now have it. 



When the National Honey-producers' 

 Association is fully organized it will be a 

 gigantic brokerage system, one that will 

 be perfectly safe and reliable, one in which 

 all its goods will be of its own protiuc- 

 tion, and offered to the market from thes-e 

 local organizations; in other words, these 

 local organizations, which are now seek- 

 ing a market for their honey, will then find 

 tills National Honey- producers' Association 

 a channel in which to market their goods, 

 and a small commission will be paid to the 

 N. H. P. A., which will be very small, and 

 smaller as the volume of the business in- 



The article published in the Bee-keepers'' 

 Revieiv for December, by E. B. Tyrrel, 

 has many points that are worthy of consid- 

 eration. He mentions the necessity of com- 

 petent organizers to work up the local or- 

 ganizations. This, I think, is well, and 

 along this line I have worked, and have 

 reached every convention possible. Co-op- 

 eration and organization of a national type 

 has been my hobby. 



But I can not see how it is going to be 

 such a hard task as Mr. Tyrrell seems to 

 be impressed with; for when the plan is de- 

 cided upon by the committee, and accepted 

 by the National Bee-keepers' Association, 

 it will be a very easy matter to elect the 

 proper officers, and then proceed to busi- 

 ness, while the honey that is now marketed 

 by the locjil association will not all be turn- 

 ed over to the National the first year. It 

 will grow in favor year by year, until soon 

 we shall be in control of the entire output. 

 The thing now to do is to effect the local or- 

 ders everywhere; and as soon as the other 

 part of the machinery is in working order, 

 then couple on, and we are then one great 

 train, loaded with the purest honey that is 

 so sealed that it can not be tampered with 

 until it is in the home of the consumer, 

 where we will unload and load up our cars 

 with the gold that has heretofore gone ta 

 build up the palaces of the millionaire. 

 Come along, brethren; don't be afraid of a 

 good thing. 



If it were possible for this committee on 

 plans to get together, then some speedy 

 work could be accomplished; the machinerj^ 

 could be set to work, and organizers could 

 be placed in the field, armed with definite 

 plans, and we should be prepared to han- 

 dle the coming crop. While this would call 

 for some expenditure of money, it would be 

 a saving of far more money by controlling 

 what will naturally be lost if we continue 

 as we are another season. 



[The California bee-keepers are proceed- 

 ing along the right lines. Gleanings will 

 be glad to assist them in any way in its 

 power, and its columns are open for any 

 thing further they may desire to say. 



Mr. F. E. Brown was one of the commit- 

 tee appointed at the last National conven- 

 tion at Denver to consider plans for the 

 formation of a National Hone3'- producers' 

 Exchange or Association, said organization 

 to co-operate with the local State organiza- 

 tions operating on the same line. Califor- 

 nia has taken a right step forward. If it 

 selects a good manager, as did the Colo- 

 rado organization, all will go well. An 

 exchange may be ever so well organized 

 and equipped; but if it does not have a 

 good man back of it, with business qualifi- 

 cations, it is liable to be a failure. Mr. 

 Frank Rauchfuss, of Denver, Col., has 

 proven to be an ideal manager. He is ge- 

 nial, honest, and a good business man; 

 and, what is more, the bee-keepers of Col- 

 orado have confidence in him. He has. 

 been tried, and not found wanting. — Ed.] 



