THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



281 



I think that Mr. Earle has most 

 clearly covered the ground upon which 

 lie the troubles of the honey-producer ; 

 but exactly how to wipe away these 

 troubles— to place a barrel of apples 

 (or a crate of honey) in '• each miner's 

 cabin among the mountains " — he left 

 unsaid, except that we are to market 

 better and distribute more widely. 

 Excellent advice, but howf It is to 

 wrestle with this question that would 

 be the legitimate work of a honey- 

 producers' association. 



1 very much doubt if any associa- 

 tion of honey- producers will ever be 

 successful in getting up a " corner " 

 on honey. Very many producers 

 would not join the association, and 

 while the members were " cornering " 

 the honey, holding it and fixing 

 prices, the outsiders would be selling 

 their honey. There are too many bee- 

 keepers ; too many varying circum- 

 stances ; it will be impossible to com- 

 bine them and secure uniformity of 

 action. While I have no faith in the 

 "cornering" scheme, I do not belong 

 to the class that says that nothing 

 can be done. 



The production part of the bee- 

 keeping industry has been studied 

 now for years. "With rare exceptions 

 it has been the only theme in bee- 

 papers and at bee-conventions. It is 

 almost impossible tosayauything new 

 upon this branch of the business ; in 

 fact, until lately it was scarcely neces- 

 sary to touch upon any other depart- 

 ment. The time has now come, how- 

 ever, when to produce a good crop of 

 honey is one thing, to sell it to advan- 

 tage is entirely another. To cheapen 

 production may possibly help us, but 

 the other end of the problem— that of 

 securing good prices for honey — will 

 bear the most working. The problem 

 can be solved much more quickly by 

 beginning at this end. A few have 

 tried workmg at this "end." Mr. 

 Muth has called the attention of 

 bakers, packers of pork and pickles, 

 and tobacco manufacturers, to the 

 using of honey in their business ; Mr. 

 Bingham has told us how to make the 

 best of vinegar from honey ; Arthur 

 Todd uses honey in making candies ; 

 Mr. Newman and others have fur- 

 nished us thousands of leaflets for dis- 

 tribution ; J. H. Martin has just 

 brought out a new and peculiar small 

 package for extracted honey ; our 

 Canadian brothers went over to Eng- 

 land last summer and showed our 

 cousins across the " big pond " the 

 superiority of American honey ; taste- 

 ful exhibits of honey have been shown 

 at Fairs, etc., but more, much more 

 must be done in this line, or else a 

 radical change made in the methods 

 of marketing, ere the palmy days of 

 old will return even in a measure. 



I think we owe Mr. Baldridge a vote 

 of thanks for having started a discus- 

 sion upon this subject. Much good 

 has been done ; and while I think that 

 a meeting devoted to a discussion of 

 this subject would work to the advan- 

 tage of bee-keepers, I doubt the wis- 

 dom of calling such a meeting this 

 spring. Reform movements and 

 changes come about slowly. Many 

 bee-keepers seem to have rather vague 

 ideas in regard to what will be or can 



be done at such a meeting ; they will 

 wait and see what is done. We can 

 get no reduced rates, and this, com- 

 bined with the apparent lack of en- 

 thusiasm, would, I believe, result in a 

 very slim attendance. Very few bee- 

 keepers would spend any great sum 

 of money just now to attend a meet- 

 ing that is to discuss only this one 

 topic, broad and all-important though 

 it be. I think that Mr. Newman's 

 suggestion, on page 227, is a good one, 

 viz : to defer holding a convention 

 until the meeting of the North Ameri- 

 can Bee-Keepers' Society, next fall, 

 in Chicago. As Secretary of this 

 society I would suggest that at least 

 one day, and the best day at that, be 

 devoted at the next meeting to a dis- 

 cussion of this vital topic. 



This meeting will probably be a 

 "rouser;" composed of representa- 

 tive men ; and the cost of production, 

 prices at which honey can be sold at 

 a profit, methods of putting up honey, 

 commission men, cash buyers, home 

 markets, city markets, foreign mar- 

 kets, development of markets, dis- 

 tribution of our products, associa- 

 tions, " corners," etc., can all receive 

 such a discussion as they never before 

 have received. 



In my opinion this is a live ques- 

 tion—it is the problem that now con- 

 fronts bee-keepers ; let us study it 

 well the coming season, then meet in 

 Chicago next fall and see if associa- 

 tions will help us to solve it. 



Rogersville,c$ Mich. 



For the American Bee Joomal* 



Onr Honey Crop for IS 



C. W. DAYTON. 



The honey crop of Chickasaw 

 county, Iowa, for 1886, was close to 

 100,000 pounds. A good many thou- 

 sand pounds was shipped to distant 

 markets, and mostly remains unsold ; 

 nearly as much was brought from 

 other States and sold here. 



The general complaint, or " howl," 

 rather, is that there was not half 

 enough honey produced to supply the 

 home demand. The honey-producers 

 of the county are located usually 2 or 

 3 in a place near some town. The 

 inhabitants in and near those apiarists 

 obtained enough for their bread and 

 cakes during the fall, but when win- 

 ter came the honey was " played out." 

 From 6 to 8 mouths in the year the 

 consumers of honey in this county are 

 forced to abstain from its use. lif all 

 the families in the county could use, 

 and knew where to get what honey 

 they would be glad to pay cash for, it 

 would be equal to 1,300,000 pounds, and 

 we cannot boast of a very populous or 

 wealthy county either. There is a 

 great demand for it at present ; but 

 the demand will be supplied when we 

 get another crop. 



Some bee-keepers have a greater 

 demand for honey than others. It 

 may be that it is because those bee- 

 keepers usually leave it on the hives 

 the longest— so long that their custo- 

 mers get very hungry for it. Then 

 they let them have it all at one dose. 



I do not think the bee-keepers around 

 here are very sharp. When they are 

 nearly sold out, so there is not much 

 on hand, they alwaj»s cling to the 

 same price. Where honey is scarce 

 they ought to do as other folks do: 

 ask a big price. Honey always gets 

 lower and lower, but the price does 

 not fluctuate around here. If the 

 price would change, then a customer 

 would not be so likely to question the 

 price and buy somewhere else. As it 

 is, once posted, he is fitted for life. 



I always find good sale for comb 

 honey in sections where there is some 

 bee-bread in them. That is when I 

 am selling to private houses, but it 

 does not work very well with the 

 merchants, as they expect to get it 

 for 2 or 3 cents per pound less on that 

 account. Sometimes, where people 

 are used to adulterated or poor honey, 

 it would be hard work to sell if it 

 was not in boxes or frames that 

 showed the roughest work of the bees. 

 It is not always the appearance of 

 honey that makes it sell, any more 

 than the dealers are the best custo- 

 mers. I once sold 14 two-pound sec- 

 tions of excellent comb honey to a 

 man who dumped them hilter-skilter 

 into a grain sack which was thrown 

 across his horse's back, and carried 8 

 miles home. 



I do not sell honey to those who do 

 not want it, but sell to those who do 

 want it. A good place is to keep 

 some honey in the combs till spring, 

 then extract it and give the neighbors 

 a taste. Do not try to sell them any. 

 They will buy it of you sooner than 

 you could possibly sell it to them. 

 The greatest fault in bee-keeping in 

 this county is that we cannot get 

 enough honey to meet the demand. 

 We cannot get enough to feed one- 

 tenth of those who would like it. 



Bradford, ($ Iowa. 



From Gleanings. 



Disposing of onr Honey Crop. 



MRS. L. HARRISON. 



There is no subject that comes 

 nearer to us all than the best way 

 and means of disposing of our honey. 

 If a bee-keeper ships nis honey to a 

 large city, and sits down to smoke, he 

 will, in many instances, have time for 

 a pretty long smoke before he has any 

 returns for his season's labor. 



There are few localities where there 

 are not more than 100 colonies kept, 

 which would not be able to consume 

 all the product. I once stopped at a 

 farm-house, five miles from any town, 

 where 40 colonies were worked for ex- 

 tracted honey. The proprietor said : 

 " I never take away a pound of honey; 

 the neighbors come with their jars 

 and pails, and take it away, and I 

 could sell much more if I had it. I 

 cannot half supply the demand." 



Farmers formerly, in Illinois, con- 

 sumed large quantities of molasses. 

 They bought it by the barrel or in 

 kegs. Emigrants from Pennsylvania 

 missed their fruit-butters, for which 

 they are so famous, and the large 

 family of " spreads" scoured through 



