758 



iTHE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



The dealer who pays us 8 cents per 

 pound for our extracted honey, tells 

 us that he cannot afford to sell it for 

 less than 10 cents per pound, which 

 gives him a profit of 25 per cent. ; vet 

 the bee-keeper must furnish brains, 

 interest on capital invested, rent of 

 land and buildings, pay taxes on bees, 

 pay for transporting his honey to 

 market, perform one year's hard 

 physical labor— all this for four-fifths 

 of the selling price. There is a wrong 

 somewhere, and the sooner we realize 

 it the better. 



After carefully looking over the 

 ground, I believe that 45 pounds of 

 comb honey per colony is, as a rule, 

 an average crop. Allowing that a 

 man can manage 100 colonies of bees, 

 he will get 4,500 pounds of comb 

 honey as the result of a year's labor. 

 But this is not clear gain, there is in- 

 terest on bees, $36 ; taxes, $4 ; sec- 

 tions, $25 ; foundation, $30 ; shipping 

 crates, $40; double interest on $200 

 invested in hives, which would be 

 needed to keep them in repair, rent 

 of shop and land, $30 ; carting honey 

 to the railroad, $11— all of which 

 makes a cash outlay each year of $200. 



Now, suppose we meekly take the 

 wages of a nod-carrier, $1,25 per day 

 or $391.25 for the 313 working days of 

 a year ; to this add the cash outlay of 

 $200, and we have $591.25 as the 

 actual cost of 4,500 pounds of comb 

 honey; a trifle over 13 cents per 

 pound. 



If we allow that one-half more ex- 

 tracted than comb honey can be se- 

 cured, we have about 8^ cents as the 

 cost of a pound of extracted honey. 



Whoever sells his honey for less 

 than these figures, works for less 

 than $1.25 per day. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



The discussion of the subject was 

 as follows : 



R. L. Taylor— In the cost of honey 

 there are many points to be consid- 

 ered, and Mr. Doolittle has not men- 

 tioned all of them ; for instance, the 

 losses in winter and from disease, I 

 think the prices given are too low. 



J. A. Green— I, too, consider the 

 price too low. 



F. Wilcox— I have not stopped to 

 figure, but I should be willing lo con- 

 tract to furnish comb honey at 10 

 cents per pound. 



President Miller — This year my 

 honey cost me $2.47 per pound. 



Mr. M. M. Baldridge, of St. Charles, 

 Ills., then read an essay, entitled : 



Price of Honer— How to Control It. 



The published programme of this 

 Society informs me that " Controlling 

 the Price of Honey " is one of the 

 topics to be considered at this meet- 

 ing, and that the writer is requested 

 and expected to open the discussion : 



Having for the past thirty years had 

 more or less experience m hand- 

 ling honey, and having been satis- 

 factorily successful in "controlling 

 the price " of it, I will at once pro- 

 ceed to outline briefly my ideas of 

 how to do it, and how others may do 

 lik-'nvise. The plan is so very simple 

 aiul practical, so it seems to me, that 

 it should readily be ujulersiood by. 



others even though it be not indorsed. 

 It is as follows : To fix the price my- 

 self and sell only to consumers. 



But, says one, that may do with a 

 small crop of honey, but how would 

 you manage with a large crop — one 

 that you could not possibly dispose of, 

 at retail, and through your own in- 

 dividual efforts ? In that case I would 

 fix the price myself and sell to con- 

 sumers through retail agents, and pay 

 the agents a liberal commission for 

 handling the honey and collecting the 

 pay for it. But, says one, why not 

 sell the honey outright to retail and 

 wholesale dealers V Simply because 

 that plan delegates toothers the right 

 to fix the price on honey to both dealers 

 and consumers. When dealers buy 

 honey it then becomes tfieir property, 

 and they then have the legal right to 

 sell to others at cost, or at any other 

 price they please. Not so by my plan. 



Now let me illustrate my plan more 

 fully, and as follows : Suppose I have, 

 say 1,000 pounds of comb honey in 

 small sections. As soon as the honey 

 is secured, say in July, I would select 



Eerhaps five responsible groceries 

 aving a good trade, and as near my 

 apiary as possible, and supply each of 

 them with one crate of honey — about 

 25 pounds at a time, and no more. 

 This would perhaps be enough honey 

 for the month of July. 



In August, or as soon as sold, I 

 would supply the same groceries with 

 the same amount of honey, and thus 

 continue from month to month, or 

 from time to time, until all is sold. 

 This would perhaps cover a period of 

 eight months, as each grocer, or re- 

 tail agent, should sell, on an average, 

 at least one crate of honey per month. 



A crop of 2,000 pounds could thus 

 be disposed of, and during the same 

 length of time, by and through ten 

 agents, and a still larger crop by hav- 

 ing a proportionate number of retail 

 agents. But my experience teaches 

 me that honey should be kept on sale, 

 and in sight, every month in the year ; 

 that more or less honey is wanted by 

 consumers all the while, and that any 

 grocer, worthy of the name, can get 

 •rid of at least one crate of honey dur- 

 ing each month. This being the case, 

 the average grocery should be able to 

 seU not less than 300 pounds per year. 

 By dividing the crop of honey in 

 pounds by 300 this would give very 

 nearly the number of retail agents 

 necessary to dispose of any size crop 

 the producer may have, in case he is 

 willing to cover each month of the 

 year. 



Now about the pay : This may be 

 collected at the close of each month, 

 or as soon as each crate of honey is 

 sold. By this means the producer 

 runs no heavy risk in having his 

 honey disposed of through retail 

 agents. In case of an assignment, or 

 bankruptcy, on the part of the agent, 

 the hoiiey on hand and unsold at the 

 time, belongs to the producer, and he 

 has the power to remove it at his 

 pleasure. 



What about the commission for 

 selling the honey and collecting the 

 pay V The retail agent should have 

 a liberal commission, so as to secure 

 liis hearty w operation. As he .has. 



however, no cash invested in the 

 honey, a liberal and satisfactory com- 

 mission to both parties would perhaps 

 be from 10 to 20 per cent, on the retail 

 price. I can find plenty of retail agents 

 who would be satisfied with 10 per 

 cent, net commission. 



Now a few words about the retail 

 price : My judgment, based upon ex- 

 perience, is that comb honey, in small 

 sections, should retail at from 15 to 2-5 

 cents per pound, depending upon its 

 quality and general condition, and not 

 upon the weight or size of the pack- 

 age. Dark honey should retail at 

 from 15 to 18 cents, and white houey 

 at from 20 to 25 cents per pound, and 

 the 1-pound, IJ^-pound, and 2-pound 

 sections should be sold at the same 

 price per pound, and let consumers 

 take their choice. To me it seems 

 wrong to ask more per pound for the 

 1-pound section than for larger sizes. 

 My observation is that the consumers 

 are willing, in many cases, to pay as 

 much per pound for a 2-pound section 

 as for the smaller sizes, and that it is 

 economy for them to do so. Honey- 

 producers are to blame for encourag- 

 ing the present difference in price, 

 and should tolerate It no longer. 



As the foregoing relates entirely to 

 my plan of supplying consumers with 

 honey by producers, and through 

 their home markets, I will now say a 

 few words about distant markets and 

 the large cities: These should and 

 must be likewise supplied with honey, 

 but none, save the actual surplus, after 

 the home markets have been provided 

 for, as herein indicated, should be 

 sent to these markets. And this 

 surplus should not, as in the past, 

 be sent to the present class of com ■ 

 mission houses, but to honey-houses 

 owned, leased, or controlled bv an 

 association of honey-producers. Each 

 honey-house should then supply the 

 groceries, or retail agents, through- 

 out the city of its location, in pre- 

 cisely the same way that the producer 

 supplies his home markets, so that 

 the system shall be uniform and 

 harmonious everywhere. 



The honey-house should be strictly 

 a wholesale supply house, and should 

 have, as its manager, a competent 

 and financially responsible agent of a 

 honey-producers' association. The 

 honey-house should have traveling 

 agents, and enough to supply properly 

 the requisite number ot responsible 

 groceries, or retail agents, in the city 

 of its location, every month in the 

 year, and likewise one or more to 

 visit other markets in the State, or 

 territory tributary thereto, to see that 

 none are neglected. This plan would 



Eerhaps do away with the necessity of 

 aving more than one wholesale sup- 

 ply house in any one State. It seems 

 to me that there should be such a 

 honey-house in each of the following 

 cities, to-wit : San Francisco, Den- 

 ver, Kansas City, Omaha, Minneapo- 

 lis, St. Louis. "Chicago, Detroit. In- 

 dianapolis, Cincinnati, New York, 

 Philadelphia, and perhaps a few other 

 large cities. 



And now. says one, how are the 

 managers of these supply houses to 

 be paid? Simply by and through » 



