166 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



above to 20° below zero. This would 

 be entirely practical, and, I have no 

 doubt, satisfactory. 



The nearest approach to the inside 

 of a cluster of bees, that I have been 

 able to reach in the winter season, is 

 through a tin tube 2 inches in diam- 

 eter by 7 inches long, inserted through 

 a 2-inch hole in the honey-board. 

 This reaches completely the top cen- 

 tre of the cluster, and takes in very 

 distinctly its fair proportions of all 

 the intonations of song and sound 

 from below ; so by placing the ear to 

 the upper end of the tube, one can 

 more distinctly hear that never-end- 

 ing song or voice of the bees, as they 

 superintend aSairs within the cluster. 

 This tube can be left in all winter, by 

 stopping the upper end to prevent 

 draft, and serve as a means of obser- 

 vation at any time day or night, at 

 any degree of temperature, ranging 

 from 50° above to 20° below zero; 

 thus proving conclusively that the 

 honey-bee never abates one " jot or 

 tittle " of its song of zee, zee, zee ! 

 during the lifetime of the colony, at 

 anv time or under any circumstances, 

 or at any degree of temperature. Of 

 course where a colony of bees reaches 

 a state of torpidity, through the ef- 

 fects of starvation and cold, an ex- 

 ceptional case is formed, for they are 

 virtually dead. 

 Athens, o^ Ohio. 



are at all practical. The best I have 

 seen is the advice to " create a home 

 market." Not 20 per cent, of the 

 people of the United States use honey 

 at all, and not 10 per cent, to any ex- 

 tent. The people must be educated 

 up to a honey standard, and this can 

 only be done by putting the article 

 within their reach. There are but 

 few things not absolute necessaries 

 that will sell themselves. 



It is not over-production, and will 

 not be so long as three-fourths of the 

 people never see a drop of honey from 

 Jan. ] to Dec. 31. California pro- 

 duces honey at a profit at 5 cents per 

 pound. If it is not over-production, 

 or high cost of producing that is the 

 trouble, can we not well assume that 

 it is lack of education y At any rate 

 let us not charge the middle-men with 

 being swindlers until we find them 

 dishonest ; but let us look for the real 

 cause, and see if we do not find it 

 pretty near home. 



Foxboro,©* Mass. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



For tbe American Bee Jonmai. 



Honey Market— Proicers' Association 



A. D. STOCKING. 



Tie Sale of Honey- 



-liile-Men, etc. 



J. E. POND. 



"What is this "hue and cry " about 

 the middle-men V Are they not as a 

 rule as honest and conscientious as 

 any other class of business men V If 

 not, why are they tolerated for such a 

 lenth of time and suffered to get rich, 

 in our large cities V Is the trouble 

 with them, or are they at all responsi- 

 ble for it 'I Is it not rather with the 

 producers '? Honey-producers, as a 

 class, are not proficient in the matter 

 of conducting general business. This 

 is no discredit to them, as it requires 

 education and experience in a particu- 

 lar line of business to become at all 

 proficient therein. 



It seems to me that the trouble lies 

 in the fact that vast quantities of 

 honey are massed " all at once " into 

 some large centre, and the producers 

 of the crop (all anxious to obtain 

 speedy returns therefor), are urging 

 their commission man to sell. He, 

 anxious to please, does sell, and as 

 there are several houses in each large 

 city, competition waxes hot, and low 

 prices necessarily follow. The com- 

 mission man is not to blame; he is 

 as anxious as any one to obtain good 

 prices, as his percentage is thereby 

 increased, but the pressure on both 

 sides— from the producer to sell, and 

 the glutted state of the market— is so 

 great, fearing that between "Scyllis 

 and Charibda," he may be foundered, 

 he sells with tlie crowd for the best 

 price he can get. 



What is the remedy V Various plans 

 are offered, none of which to my mind 



As the question of the marketing 

 of honey is attracting a great deal of 

 attention now, I wish to give my ex 

 perience in this line, and to make a 

 few suggestions which may be of in- 

 terest to some. 



1 was located 6 miles from Ligonier, 

 Ind.,and was the first to introduce 

 honey in sections in the market there; 

 whenever I went into town I always 

 took a small case of one-pound sec- 

 tions and showed it to all I met. I 

 sold what I could and took orders ; I 

 also left some at two good grocery 

 stores on commission. I set the price 

 at which my honey was to be sold, 

 and told them I did not care at what 

 price others sold— this honey was 

 mine, and if they did not sell it they 

 lost nothing ; and that when the other 

 was out of the way they could sell 

 mine. I established a high reputa- 

 tion for the quality and style of my 

 honey which I was very careful not to 

 lower, and I have ever since sold my 

 honey at a higher price than any other 

 that was ever brought into the same 

 market. I have never been able to 

 supply the demand, and I never but 

 once went over 6 miles from home 

 with honey, and never asked any one 

 what they would give for honey. I 

 had a good trade amongst the farmers 

 who had once kept bees but had lost 

 them ; they had become accustomed 

 to a free use of honey. They came to 

 my apiary and generally would take 

 such as I did not think nice enough 

 to put on the market. I have sold as 

 high as 100 pounds to one farmer. 



A great deal has been said against 

 farmers and others keeping bees, but 

 I have found that those who have 

 kept a few bees and have become 

 accustomed to the free use of honey, 

 and then lost their bees, have proved 

 to be the best customers ; and I be- 

 lieve that any plan used to bring the 

 mass of the people to become ac- 



quainted with the use of honey, will 

 greatly extend the market. But some 

 may say that I produce but a small 

 amount of honey, and need not be 

 troubled for a market. I grant that I 

 am but a small bee-keeper, yet the 

 second season I sold over 1,600 pounds 

 of honey, and those who have a much 

 larger amount must make a stronger 

 effort to increase their market ; I be- 

 lieve a great deal can be done by 

 going amongst the farmers. 



Last season there were several bee- 

 keepers in the vicinity of my market. 

 I visited all that were likely to have 

 honey to sell ; I set a price for honey, 

 and they all agreed to sell for no less, 

 and they did not ; yet there was not 

 enough to supply the demand, and a 

 good deal was brought in from a dis- 

 tance and sold at a lower price. 

 Much might be accomplished by pro- 

 ducers taking this course in their own 

 vicinity. 



I believe that much good might be 

 accomplished by a honey producers' 

 association for the bee-keepers of the 

 country, by ascertaining the amount 

 of honey likely to be put upon the 

 market, the amount produced in the 

 different parts of the country, the 

 prospects of the demand, the prices it 

 would be likely to bring, and the pub- 

 lication of the same. But to establish 

 a uniform price for honey would be 

 impossible, for the reason that the 

 supply may be large in one locality, 

 and the price low ; in another part of 

 the country the supply may be short, 

 and the prices high ; and shipping 

 honey from one locality to the other 

 will be accompanied with too much 

 expense and loss. 



Again it would be impossible to 

 unite the majority of bee-keepers in 

 such an association, and if it could be 

 done it would be accompanied with 

 so much expense as to make it im- 

 practicable, as it would be a heavy 

 tax upon the honey-producers. 



An effort has several times been 

 made to obtain reports of the pros- 

 pects of the supply of honey in differ- 

 ent parts of the country, through the 

 district and county associations ; but 

 they have always failed. The asso- 

 ciations referred to by the different 

 correspondents are all organized by 

 capitalists, and none of them control 

 but a small portion of the products of 

 the dairy, etc. ; and I apprehend there 

 are but few capitalists among bee- 

 kpPD6rs 



It would be much more profitable, 

 I think, to drop the discussion of this 

 question and devote our efforts to the 

 home markets and the reduction of 

 the cost of production. Much more 

 might be accomplished by one or 

 more prominent bee-keepers in each 

 township, in seeing every bee keeper 

 in his own township and uniting them 

 all in a township organization for 

 their own protection and benefit. 

 Let them establish a price for their 

 honey, and work in unison with those 

 of adjoining townships to sustain 

 uniform prices and work up the honey 

 market amongst the farmers and in 

 the towns in their vicinity, and, if 

 necessary, buy up all honey that 

 would be likely to injure their mar- 

 kets. Such associations could report 



