24 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



MacphersoD did right in sayjng tbat 

 there was no intention to cdst a slur 

 upon American honey. Not at all; I 

 simply stated what I stip believe to 

 be a fact, and so, of course, I have no 

 apology to offer. 

 Belmont, Out. 



[United States basswood honey is 

 by no means dark, and is not so 

 classed in this city. That it varies in 

 different localities is true, but it is 

 never dark. — Ed. J 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



DevelopiiiE tlie Honey larM. 



B. F. HOLTERMANN. 



The remark in Mr. Baldridge's arti- 

 cle on page 774 of the Bee Journal 

 for 1886, which, it appears to me, re- 

 quires consideration, is that in regard 

 to commission men. He states that 

 they are responsible, to a great ex- 

 tent, for the present low prices of 

 honey. Look, for a moment, at the 

 great fall in the price of honey in 

 Canada, as in the United States, for 

 the last ten years. I do not believe 

 that one per cent, of the Canadian 

 honey has been handled and sold on 

 commission; in fact, I am safe in 

 saying that it is a practice which we 

 have not resorted too, and in spite of 

 that, surely no one will deny that our 

 prices are low, and have dropped as 

 low, proportionately, for about ten 

 years, as in the United States. 



Ill regard to allowing retailers to 

 sell only at a certain figure, as do 

 flour producers on Fox river, I need 

 only to say honey has not yet become 

 floiir ; it may be on the road to it— let 

 us liope so at least ; but families cannot 

 do without flour. Our home market 

 for honey has, as yet, to be developed, 

 and I know it is quite difficult enough 

 to do this, and if we offer such ob- 

 structions as indicated, we must suf- 

 fer by hindering the development of 

 our market. It is right enough to 

 endeavor to secure a uniform retail 

 price for a uniform article, but com- 

 pulsion is not the method to be 

 adopted. 



As to what our aim should be, it is 

 to sell as low as we are compelled to 

 do, and have a fair remuneration for 

 our product. This question will right 

 itself ; honey will (ind that level, and 

 if it is below it now, the cheapness 

 will develop the market, and event- 

 ually those not able (through locality, 

 ability, or other circumstances) to sell 

 as cheaply as others, will drop out ; 

 the remainder, or more properly, 

 those under favorable circumstances, 

 will remain and secure remunerative 

 prices. But this is aside from the 

 question at issue. We can never by 

 any organization regulate the price of 

 honey. Those likely to become mem- 

 bers of such an organization are the 

 same who do not demoralize the mar- 

 ket ; the others you cannot reach. 



In Canada, whatever your move- 

 ments are for the advancement of 

 apiculture, they are outside of it, and 

 they do just as they see lit, and you 

 find you are behind, for you have only 



tried to do as you saw fit. On the 

 other hand, 1 would not say beneficial 

 results may not be obtained by an or- 

 ganization, which would have for its 

 aim the union of bee-keepers in mark- 

 eting their honey. 



In every large city let a wholesale 

 and retail (or retail only) honey-store 

 be started by the honey producers' 

 company, and competent persons put 

 in charge to supply the existing de- 

 mand for honey, and make every 

 effort to create a further demand. 

 Then let the organization have an 

 early report of the honey secured for 

 the season, etc. What we will secure 

 by this metnod is this : The bee- 

 keepers themselves will become the 

 retailers in our cities, and they can 

 put a stop to any practice injurious to 

 their interests, and the middle-men 

 will be greatly done away with ; and 

 without loss to the bee-keepers they 

 can cheapen honey for the consumer. 

 These two points alone are of im- 

 mense value. 



Brantford, Ont. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



ControllinE tlie Honey Market, etc, 



L. N. TONGUE. 



I am glad to see bee-men coming 

 forward on this important subject. 

 The question to decide is, how can 

 the object be accomplished so as to 

 effectually take the honey out of the 

 hands of those who ruin the price of 

 honey y My plan is this: Let the 

 Bee-Keepers Union have control of 

 the matter. From statistics they can 

 ascertain the honey crop next season, 

 so as to fix a price that will pay the 

 producer a reasonable compensation 

 for his labor and capital, having in 

 view the interest of the consumer as 

 well. There is reason in all things, 

 and I believe the Manager and Ad- 

 visory Board of the Bee-Keepers' 

 Union are as well qualified to judge 

 correctly in the matter as any. (I 

 would not wish to be understood to 

 say that others are not as well quali- 

 fied.) Some may ask, how can the 

 market be controlled in this way ? 

 Why, just have leaflets distributed 

 to each member of the Union, giving 

 prices fixed upon by the managers. 



The next thing to be done is 

 this : Let each member canvass his 

 locality, and buy up all the surplus 

 from small producers, putting the 

 same into the hands of middle-men to 

 sell at a price fixed by the managers, 

 thereby controlling the market most 

 effectually. How about the funds to 

 purchase this honey V As for my 

 part, I would rather pay two dollars 

 for this purpose than to pay one dollar 

 to fight lawsuits. How about the 

 men that are compelled to sell V Why, 

 advance a reasonable sum, holding 

 their crop as collateral security. 



How is it, bee-men y Is this plan 

 feasible V If not, give a better one. 

 It seems to me something might be 

 done to secure a reasonable price for 

 our honey, and stop flooding the mar- 

 ket by small producers. 



Bee -men are asked their opinions as 

 to publishing quotations on the honey 



market. My answer is this : If the 

 plan proposed above, or some better 

 one, is established, how is the whole- 

 sale man going to get honey to sell V 

 This plan is going to bring the whole- 

 sale buyer at your door. 



LEGISLATION — PRIORITY QUESTION. 



In regard to the priority question, 

 I for one am utterly opposed to any 

 such legislation. I have no patience 

 to write upon the question. I say 

 down with it. In my opinion such a 

 law would be unconstitutional. 



Wonewoc,© Wis. 



For tlie American Bee JounmL 



Successful Bee-Keening, etc. 



L. J. KEYES. 



I have been interested in reading 

 the reports of bee keepers from dif- 

 ferent parts of the country, as to the 

 amount of honey produced by given 

 colonies of bees, and must say that I 

 am somewhat surprised that none ex- 

 ceed my own efforts, taking into con- 

 sideration the tact that three years is 

 the extent of my experience in manip- 

 ulating bees for honey. In this sec- 

 tion of country the past season has 

 fallen short of the average for honey, 

 yet from 18 colonies put out in the 

 spring, I harvested a few pounds over 

 1,400 pounds of comb honey in one- 

 pound sections, and increased the 

 number of colonies to 35, which I 

 have put into the cellar in the finest 

 condition possible. 



I have come to this conclusion, by 

 observation, that one hour's neglect 

 in the heighth of the honey harvest 

 is a loss to the bee-keeper. As soon 

 as sections are filled they should be 

 raised, giving room for work below 

 while the capping is going on above. 

 The hive I use contains eight frames, 

 and is somewhat smaller than the 

 Langstroth. Ah, some of the older 

 members of the fraternity say, too 

 small, too small ; but remember this 

 country is not California, nor Florida, 

 but away up north ; and, again, where 

 are your lOframe hives that go very 

 far in advance of my small hives ? 



My section-cases are to exactly fit 

 each other, and each section is pro- 

 vided with a full-sized tin-divider 

 which makes them queen-excluding, 

 hence there is no brood in the sec- 

 tions. I allow natural swarming, re- 

 moving the old hive at the proper 

 time to secure all returning bees in 

 the new one. The section-cases are 

 removed from the old hive and placed 

 on others where the work will be con- 

 tinued, and thus work once begun in 

 the sections it never ceases until com- 

 pleted, the capping being done 2 or 3 

 stories higher than where the honey 

 was put in. 



For wintering I use a rim the size 

 of the top of the hive, 2 inches high 

 (or wide), covered with burlap on 

 both sides, and filled with dry forest 

 leaves. The hives are tiered up, and 

 the entrance left wide open. This 

 plan of wintering suits me because it 

 proves safe, which is all any one could 

 wish. 



