THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



179 



wished to withdraw his honey and sell it 

 /ii)nsel/. Of course, buyers encouraged 

 such proceedings. They were none too 

 well pleased with the organization 

 of the Association. Really, this 

 Association has been the financial salva- 

 tion of Colorado bee-keepers. Before its 

 ori^anization, buyers would play one pro- 

 ducer against another, and, as freights 

 East were almost prohibitory, except in 

 carload lots, the price of honey was work- 

 ed down until there was no profit in its 

 production. Combination and co-opera- 

 tion saved the day. While man}' bee- 

 keepers hesitated about joining the Asso- 

 ciation, enough did join to make it a sort 

 of "balance of power," so to speak. 

 That is, it was able to control prices to a 

 very great extent. Even though a man 

 did not belong to the Association, he did 

 not care to sell his honey at a less price 

 than the Association was getting. Among 

 all of the good things accomplishetl by 

 the Association, this one of being able to 

 establish prices tvas of great help. Many 

 who would not join the Association, 

 would promise not to sell their honey at 

 a lower figure than that at which the 

 Association sold honey. 



.\ great deal of pains has been taken 

 by this Association is securing accurate, 

 and frequent reports of the honey crop 

 while it is being gathered. The result 

 is that no buyer can accomplish much by 

 coming into the office and tell stories of 

 their being such zuonder/ul crops in such 

 and such a part of the State, or in 

 such and such a locality. The manager 

 has on file several reports from bee-keep- 

 ers in that particular locality, and knows 



xaclly what the crop has been. 



This .Association has been very fortu- 

 nate in its choice of a manager. If any 

 one is a living encyclopedia of Colorado 

 bee keeping and Colorado bee-keepers, 

 it is Mr. Frank Rauchfuss. There are 

 ver\' few bee keepers in the State with 

 whom he is not personally acquainted. 

 1 remember being one of a group in his 

 office, standing in front of a large map 

 of Colorado, and seeing him point out 



the different honey producing localities 

 of the State, together with their pecul- 

 iarities. Let a bee keeper's name be 

 mentioned, and he can instantly give 

 his initials, his post office, how many 

 colonies he keeps, whether he produces 

 comb or extracted honey, if he is a mem- 

 ber of the Association, etc. Mr. Rauch- 

 fuss is an Americanized German; shrewd, 

 keen, alert, and abundantly able to look 

 after the interests of the Association 

 whose interests he represents. Did space 

 permit I could relate several instances of 

 how he had outwitted buyers who had 

 attempted to get ahead of the Association. 

 When I left for home last fall. Mr. 

 Rauchfuss was planning a trip to Chicago, 

 where he would spend several days 

 studying the condition of the market. To 

 succeed, ai:y Association must have such 

 a manager as this; one who is bright, capa- 

 ble, alert, up-to-date, and a good business 

 manager. As Prof. Cook says, such a 

 man can not afford to work for a meager 

 salary. Too many other corporations 

 are ready to pay him what his services 

 are worth. A poor manager is the very 

 poorest kind of economy. Get the best 

 man for that position, that you have in 

 your ranks — the amount that you may 

 have to pay him as a salary is of minor 

 importance. 



California and Colorado produce large 

 quantities of honey in comparatively 

 small areas, hence the conditions are 

 more favorable for the formation of an 

 Exchange or Association than where 

 there are many, less extensive, producers, 

 scattered over a large extent of country. 



THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 



A Graphic Description of Their Beauties. 



Our frontispiece this month gives a lit- 

 tle glimpse of Colorado scenery. Yes, 

 and 2l glimpse is about all that it can be 

 called. To fully appreciate such scenes 

 as these they must be seen "with the 



