1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



675 



THE REPORTING OF THE HONEY 

 3IARKETS. 



Continued from page 590, last issue. 



. Mr. linot :—y OUT letter of Feb. U, regarding market quota- 

 tions in your journal. Isat hand. Theproof yon enrlosed >ieems 

 to covertlie ground quite well. While visiting honey-dealers 

 in the middle states last fall J noticed tlmt some were appar- 

 ently liasing tlieiri|untatlnns in tlie journals on their prices to 

 the "retail dealer, while cithers were quoting the prii-es they 

 were making to the johbiug trade, it seems that, in order to 

 make the cpiotatii'us of any value to the iiniiliiccr. there 

 should he uniformity alicput them. The commission Uiercliant 

 feels that, wlicn he is ipioting liis jolihing prices, he runs 

 elmnces of driving consignments away from his door; not 

 only that, hut a near-l>y )iroducer not understanding the situa- 

 tion may come to town and sell to the retailer in one and two 

 ease lots at tliis joliliing price, therehv causing harm to all. 

 On the other hand, if the jirices to the retail dealer are adopt- 

 ed without such an explaualiou as vou contemplate, the con- 

 signor would prolialilv he dissatisHed liv the returns nujde hv 

 the connuissioii uu-rcfuuit. as he would exjiect all of liis honey 

 to bring the price quoted, wliicii would not he the case. as (jiiite 

 a portion miglit be sold in the jobbing way. and necessarily at 

 a lower figure, as nearly all large honey -dealers sell iiuite a 

 good deal of honey in the jobbing way. This matter should 

 now be straightened out for the benefit' of all concerned. The 

 prices we have lieen furnishing you are the ones at which" we 

 are selling honey to the retailer liere. As for liceswax. we are 

 quoting tlie price we are iiayjng for the same delivered here, 

 as we (io not sell much in tlic general wav. 



After writing the above .your Feb. l-'ith ninnber arrived, and 

 your article on page 235 was read with interest. We were up 

 against a similar proposition as this Southern producer our- 

 selves, before we were organized, and even after that, and 

 have had some experience in making consignments which 

 were not satisfactorv. We have had onlv one lirm to nuike us 

 aecount sales that indicateil that an attcnipt had been luaile to 

 satisfy the consignor in w hicli amount his goods had been dis- 

 posed of. 



Whe;i we organized we decided on a plan of keeping consign- 

 ment accounts with our consignors (members or non-members i 

 that would show them exactly In which amount their products 

 had been sold. Thinking it may be of interest to you to see 

 our system, we are sending you herewith a specimen page, and 

 we should be pleased to have your opinion of it. The same is 

 a coji.v from a page In our consignment ledger. In starting a 

 consignor's account we gi\e him two slieets. using tlie second 

 sheet to nuike a carbon co]iy of the tirst; and when these 

 sheets are tilled with the sales of an.v consignor's liiuie.v. the 

 amount unsold, together with the debit and credit, is transfer- 

 red to another two sheets. The carbon co|iy of slieet one is 

 now readv to be forwarded to the consignor in place of state- 

 ment, witli any remittance he nui,v be entitled to. You will 

 note that the number of e\ erv invoice and check is given, so 

 that It is an easy matter for any consignor who comes in. to 

 satisfy himself of the correctness of eacli entry in tlie ledger. 

 To save space, consignment sales commence at the bcdtom of 

 the iiage and read up. Our invoices are numbered, and run 

 through a register which also makes two carbon copies of it. 

 Tlif original goes with the purchase; one carbon eoi)y is fl'ed 

 numericallv -ind th- o h"^- al- ' ahetieal'v. We think'that e- c- 

 rynun-!..ii. ..■..in. . ii. ,^n-:. ntt sUot: d ha\e sonii syslcn of 



handling such accounts that would merit the conlidence of his 

 consignors. 



Tactics similar to those eniployeil by the commission men al- 

 luded to In your article were b"rought in use in some part of 

 this State the past fall, ami it is deplorable that a leading bee- 

 keeper, well known to readers <d' bee-journals, has been a par- 

 ty in the scheme to liear d..wn tlu> price cd' the products of his 

 neighlxirs and supposed friends after having sold his crop at a 

 nnich higher iirh'e. The bee keepers (.f tliat locality have lost 

 hundreds of dollars through this manijnilation. 



Appreciating your attempts to make the market reports of 

 more value to the producers, we remain 

 Yours very truly. 

 The Colorado Honey-producers' Association, 

 F. Rauclifuss, Manager. 



The above letter from the Colorado Honey-produc- 

 ers' Association refers to our inquiry addressed to 

 various parties "who quote for the Honey Column, as 

 was referred to in this department May 1. This letter 

 is given in this connection as this association stands 

 between the bee-keeper and the trade in the position 

 of a commission house, but with the interests of ti'-e 

 bee-keeper at heart. It is. of course, supposed that 

 commission men generally have to look out for them- 

 selves first of all; and, naturally, their interests are 

 not so closely allied with the producer's as are those 

 of this association. 



In this department for May 1st some rather severe 

 criticisms of commission houses were made, and we 

 presume that in many instances, there is reason for 

 such criticism. We feel, however, that, until there is 

 a better cash market for honey than now exists, the 

 commission men do serve the bee-keepers in a good 

 many instances, to the great advantage of the latter. 

 It is seldom that a merchant will buy a stock of comb 

 honey that is greatly inferior in quality, and produc- 

 ers would often find great difficulty in disposing of it 

 were it not that the commission man, by putting it in 

 stock, and having it before pro.spective buvers, is able 

 to dispose of it at reasonable prices. The merchant 

 would not be willing to purchase the stock outright, 

 and take his chances on making sales and losing on 

 these inferior lots, when he could just as well be sure 

 of a profit by purchasing the better stocks. It is 

 here that the commission man steps in and serves the 

 bee-keeper well, in our opinion. Besides, there are a 

 number of the commission houses that do handle 

 large quantities of the better grades; but as to wheth- 

 er it is really in the interests of the honey-trade gen- 

 erally we are not prepared to say. We do know that 

 there are serious complaints of commission houses. 

 On the other hand, we know that bee-keepers who 

 have not learned to .put up their honey properly often 

 make unjust complaints against commission houses, 

 lit' If t'oalizing th-at their honey can be in such a fear- 

 ful condition on arrival as it sometimes is. 



M. 9^.£. %^..^ 



Denver, Celo.i ''fZothinHiMr v 



-190-^ — No. 

 Sheet No. 



/f/. 



^iSZ_ 



with THE COLORADO HONEY-PRODUCER'S ASSOCIATION 



