AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



689 



the County Court for the use of the 

 court room. 



Resolved, That wo extend thanks of 

 the association to the press for courtesies 

 received. 



Resolved, That we offer our sincere 

 thanlcs to the retiring officers for their 

 untiring zeal in behalf of the association. 



Resolved, That we regret extremely 

 the accident that occurred to Mrs. 

 Schack, and that she and her family 

 have the sincere sympathies of the 

 entire association, and we also hope it 

 may not prove serious. 



E. F. QUIGLEY, 



E. R. Garrett, 

 Mrs. J. M. Null, 

 Committee. 



Maintain Market Prices. 



BY MRS. MILTOX CONE. 



How can we best educate beginners, 

 keeping only a few bees, not to ruin the 

 honey market for those who are making 

 the production of honey a business ? 



I think the above is a conundrum as 

 well as a question, and of much impor- 

 tance to bee-keepers of the latter class. 

 I do not know that beginners, or bee- 

 keepers in a small way, may ever be 

 educated so as not to ruin the market. 

 We are^oo busy to visit each one and try 

 to persuade them to do their duty in the 

 matter ; and the number of them is 

 legion who take no papers devoted to 

 bee-culture, and consequently are not 

 posted concerning the supply and de- 

 mand, or know the quotation of prices. 



We have felt it to be a duty, in consid- 

 eration of the interests of the business, 

 to encourage at least a price that savors 

 of the " live and let live " principle, and 

 this may be said of the average bee- 

 keeper who makes this business a means 

 of support ; who knows that his time is 

 money ; that the laborer is worthy of 

 his hire, and feels that for value received 

 he should have a reasonable retnrn. 



However, the truth confronts us, that 

 dealers will buy as cheaply as they can ; 

 also, that some of them are not as 

 honest as they might be, in representing 

 the market to the party offering honey ; 

 and, so far as we know, the first honey 

 on the market is supplied by these peo- 

 ple, in small lots, in all conditions and 

 mixed grades, to the grocery trade first, 

 until a low price is common. 



Then the commission men say: "It 

 was the farmers, themselves, who ran 

 the price down. We would rather keep 

 it up. The more we can realize for our 

 consignor the higher our commission, 

 etc." 



I see no remedy but this, which has 

 been somewhat satisfactory to us, viz. : 

 to make no offers until the market is 

 cleared of this cheap honey, and until 

 there is an active demand, as there is 

 now. 



In July our grocers were very differ- 

 ent, when approached in regard to 

 honey, saying : "Oh! honey is plenty 

 this year. We can buy all we want very 

 cheaply." Now, this apparent plenty 

 has proven a mirage, their cases are 

 empty, and their customers are asking 

 for what they have not. When a bee- 

 keeper of some reputation as a producer 

 of honey comes in, they are ready to 

 hurry up to the front, with a very pleas- 

 ant greeting, and, in the next breath, 

 asks : " How much honey can we have? 

 We are entirely out, and would be very 

 glad if you would accommodate us." 



There is some consolation in knowing 

 that the honey placed on the market at 

 an indifferent price is mostly of an in- 

 different grade, or at least in an indiffer- 

 ent condition, and the people are getting 

 a little more particular about how the 

 honey looks, as well as how it tastes. 



The painstaking producer is not slow 

 to learn that his honey must be clean 

 and attractive, and the person who has 

 had his ideas of the pecuniary resources 

 of the business enlarged by reading a 

 Circular, or some glowing account in an 

 agricultural paper, will sooner or later 

 get disgusted after rushing into the 

 market with the first honey he has, for 

 which he receives such small returns. 



If enterprising bee-keepers would only 

 do so, the country might be canvassed, 

 and the honey from these small pro- 

 ducers bought up to great advantage, it 

 seems to me, not allowing it to reach 

 the market at ruinous prices ; and not 

 until properly classified and put into 

 neat crates. 



Some "educating " might be done at 

 our agricultural fairs. Everybody nearly 

 attends during one or more days ; and 

 to the credit of the general public be it 

 said, that very many attend in a spirit 

 to be benefited by the displays, and to 

 learn all they can. 



However, our county societies are 

 slow to realize the importance of our 

 pursuit, and as yet offer scarcely any 

 inducement to bee-keepers, to make an 

 attractive display. If we do, we must do 

 so for the love we have for the work, 

 and by the desire to "lend a hand" 

 towards the uplifting of the cause, and 

 the bettering of the general interests of 

 apiarists. 



Trusting no one with the display but 

 one who knows the business, not only 



