102 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



there is also anotber class who may 

 be added to the list and described as 

 " running around " among producers 

 offering " spot cash " for their whole 

 crop at the apiary ; relieving them of 

 all trouble in finding a market, costs 

 of transportation, and as often viewed 

 by the bee-keeper, commissions ; but 

 the actual " runner around," when 

 making calculations of his sales, needs 

 no prompting to anticipate which 

 side of " profit and loss" will be aug- 

 mented by the commission -illustrat- 

 ing very fully that Mr. Baldridge, 

 who represents himself as an old 

 honey dealer, is well posted in what 

 he is writing about. Notwithstand- 

 ing the many facts in his statements, 

 the "white sheep " of the flock ought 

 not to be blackened by inappropriate 

 appellations. Scape-goats often fail 

 to an the bill of the immolator ! 



Eight and 10 cents per pound, at 

 present costs of production, for a good 

 quality of comb honey at the apiary, 

 does not invariably result in pushing 

 things the right direction, when the 

 same honey costs the consumer 15 and 

 20 cents per pound ; neither will a 

 second-hand purchase of a ton or 

 more of the same honey in light- 

 weight packages, and disposing of the 

 same at a price per section that was 

 paid per pound, list among the " busi- 

 ness-like methods " th«t always result 

 in securing to all bona-fide producers 

 " a fair, honest and decent price for 

 their honey." 



But what is a fair, honest and de- 

 cent price for any commodity but the 

 medium rate that represents the equi- 

 librium of value in exchange— the ex- 

 positor of supply and demand? If a 

 bee-keeper makes the production of 

 honey wholly or partially the means 

 of a livelihood, the exigencies of his 

 avocation require an exchange of the 

 fruits of his labor for other commodi- 

 tes that the calls of life demand. A 

 brisk exchange on satisfactory terms, 

 results in " business prosperity." A 

 lethargic call for the staples of life 

 results in " business depression." 

 When an excess of production is 

 forced upon the market the consumer 

 gets the advantages of low prices; 

 while a " lean " market and high 

 prices favor the producer. When a 

 large surplus of corn is produced in 

 the West, the Eastern consumer gets 

 his supply at a comparatively low 

 cost ; while a deficient crop increases 

 the price. In either case the exi- 

 gences of location lead the consumer 

 to comply with the fluctuations of the 

 market, which he can neither " bear " 

 nor " bull "—local production not 

 being sufficient to aid him in influenc- 

 ing " trade rates." 



It is not apparent that a diction of 

 sale rates can be made radically appli- 

 cable in estabhshing a uniform price 

 for a product derived from an area so 

 variant as those from which the 

 honey crop is obtained. When api- 

 arists in California, Texas or Florida 

 can produce honey, transport it to the 

 Eastern markets, and sell it for less 

 than what would be remunerative for 

 honey from the apiary of the bee- 

 beeper to whom the Eastern markets 

 are home markets, how is the differ- 

 ence to be equalized / Surely, not by 



any " robbing of Peter to pay Paul 

 edict from a local association; or 

 Board of Trade that would monopolize 

 the sale of all the honey within its 

 reach. Monopolies are expensive 

 luxuries. The less tribute a product 

 pays to useless handlers, the more 

 satisfactory will be the negotiations 

 of those who may be the most directly 

 interested in its movements. 



With the foregoing incomplete sum- 

 mary of the subject, it seems that the 

 main features of an association for 

 honey producers need be no more or 

 less than a systematic centralization 

 of ideas based on information repre- 

 senting the true status of the honey 

 crop each season ; the requirements 

 of trade, demand and supply, in the 

 different localities of our apicultural 

 area ; and a central body distributing 

 the rays of its satellites— instead of 

 the reverse— by a genuine, bona fide 

 market report, coupled with such 

 suggestions as the movements of the 

 markets from time to time demand. 



Cumberland,? Me. 



B-or the American Bee JoomaL 



A Monal Honey Company.- 



SAMUEL RAU. 



For tue American Bee Journal. 



Tie CapMS oyer Honey, 



C. p. DADANT. 



On page 71, Mr. Hutchinson speaks 

 of my incidental quotation from Mr. 

 Cheshire's writings, as though it was 

 the main argument of my article. I 

 would ask him to read the article over 

 and answer my question : Why is the 

 honey in the sound, sealed cells liquid 

 while the other is granulated V I 

 would offer to send him a sample of 

 that honey, free and prepaid, but I 

 suppose he has seen the same thing. 



I also wish to state that I quoted 

 onlv Mr. Cheshire's conclusions on the 

 imperviousness of the cappings,which 

 Mr. Hutchinson does not give. My 

 reasons for quoting so little from mt. 

 Cheshire were, that the part of his 

 writings given by Mr. Hutchinson is 

 rather contradictory in itself since he 

 says that "tlie air intervening be- 

 tween the irregular tape-like shreds 

 caniiot escape " (italics mine), which 

 would mean, if it means anything, 

 that the cell is air-tight. Moreover, 

 Mr. C. calls the honey-cells air-tight. 



These contradictions in the most 

 thorough and most scientific work on 

 bee-anatomv, in a book that has cor- 

 rected gross errors, that we all be- 

 lieved as truths, in the writings of 

 our leading teachers, only show that 

 this question of imperviousness is a 

 thorny one. 



I would add only this : I have re- 

 peated, on some of the honey men- 

 tioned in my former article, the tests 

 made by Mr. Cheshire, of steeping it 

 in water for weeks, and the result in 

 my case was entirely negative, for not a 

 single cell of it absorbed water. True, 

 this does not disprove Mr. Cheshire s 

 test, but it proves that different cir- 

 cumstances cause different results. I 

 would ask Mr. Hutchinson to make 

 this test himself on different grades 

 of comb honey. 



Hamilton, KD Ills. 



After reading Mr. J. V. Caldwell's 

 article on page 308 of the Bee Jour- 

 nal for 1886, 1 thought a good deal 

 about the honey " corner " he slightly 

 hinted at, but as the " corner " busi- 

 ness has heretofore been manipulated, 

 I confess the idea was rather un- 

 savory to me. 



Since then I have read of the cattle 

 men of the West, who complain of 

 the middle men robbing them of all 

 the profit in the business, and are 

 moving towards forming a gigantic 

 cattle pool. They contemplate form- 

 ing an association with a capital of 

 $100,000,000 in 1,000,000 shares of $100 

 each. Now, it seems to me that we 

 honey producers of this country, 

 "flowing with milk and honey," 

 could get something feasible and 

 tangible out of this movement to 

 help our own case. 



Why could not the bee-keepers or 

 North America form an association 

 with 100,000 capita! in 10,000 shares of 

 $10 each ? Or, if this amount is in- ■ 

 adequate, increase the capital to 

 $1,000,000. Some of the weak-kneed 

 ones may, at first sight, be almost 

 scared, and in amazement wonder 

 where all this money is to come from, 

 but hold your peace and see. The 

 company would have to be organized 

 upon the most substantial basis pos- 

 sible ; be under the management of a 

 certain number of directors to be 

 elected by the stock-holders; these 

 directors should be no weak-kneed or 

 hesitating men, but the most practi- 

 cal, substantial, energetic, influential 

 and pushing men in the whole frater- 

 nity ; they should be men of experi- 

 ence and unquestionable honor ! They 

 should be men of pluck and the 

 ability to organize— such men as the 

 Western Union Telegraph Company, 

 and the Standard Oil Company have 

 at the helm. Do not say that we do 

 not have them ; we have the material 

 out of which to make them. The 

 opportunity and the occasion almost 

 invariably produce the men. 



Let each bee-keeper take one share 

 of the capital stock, for say every 40 

 colonies of bees, or fraction thereot 

 that he owns. I am writing without 

 any statistics at hand, and this is 

 made merely as a suggestion, and 

 might be improved upon. Ibese 

 shares might be made payable in sev- 

 eral different annual payments, bear 

 6 per cent, interest, and be secured by 

 first mortgage on the bees represent- 

 ed. On these mortgages any amount 

 of capital necessary to carry on the 

 business could be raised. Middle 

 men conld be entirely dispensed with, 

 thereby increasing prices to the pro- 

 ducer without increased cost to the 



consumer. , , ,, ^ , i 



The company should sell stock only 

 to actual bee-men and honey pro- 

 ducers, and control the entire honey 

 interest of this continent. It could 

 soon guarantee to its stock-holders 

 better prices than they are now re- 

 ceiving, as well as guard against any 



