452 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



winter food. There has been no 

 trouble here for several years and 

 I have not had to feed a pound of 

 sugar since it has got thoroughly 

 started. It gives me the case full 

 almost every fall, but it is not 

 very salable, and I leave it on, for 

 spring stimulation. 



It saves a lot of "fussing" with 

 the bees in a time when they would 

 be liable to rob if disturbed, both 

 in the spring and fall. It is fine for 

 UP here, sure. 



Now for a general move to in- 

 crease the circulation of the Re- 

 view. Have you seen the splendid 

 arrangements with the other jour- 

 nals, and back number offer? I 

 am going to make another special 

 offer in addition to this. I have 

 gathered a whole lot of seed from 

 the ASTER ERUCOIDES and will 

 put it in little bags, holding about 

 W'hat I paid 25c for when I started 

 to sow it, and I will give one of 

 these to each member who sends a 

 new subscriber or renewal with 

 his own renewal that comes to me. 

 If you send it direct to the office 

 they might neglect to speak about 

 it I have enough for several bund- 

 led bags and I would like to have 

 Sfveral hundred beekeepers "go in" 

 to the aster business. If you have 

 to feed in the fall, it will surely 

 pay you to look into it. I have no 

 seed to sell, at all, and am doing 

 this as my little mite toward push- 

 ing the Review. 



Well, while the National Ass'n 

 has been, trying to make up its 

 mind how to "boost" honey for the 

 whole membership, a firm who "do 

 things," has quietly gone to work 

 and started a selling campaign that 

 is a. "hummer." They are selling 

 honey by the carload I understand, 

 and doing it along the lines that 

 are available to any of us — Live 

 bee and honey demonstrations, and 

 local advertising. I do not grudge 

 them their success, as they have 

 earned it. But I do want to see 

 more of the beekeepers themselves 

 go to selling honey this way, and 

 keep boosting it everywhere, and 

 all the time. This firm is now push- 

 ing the sales of honey in several of 

 the big cities, and in a few years 

 will cover a great deal more terri- 

 tory. I wonder how many of us 

 realize the opportunity to make not 

 only a living, but a good income be- 



sides, of selling honey at retail in 

 the business places, markets, de- 

 partment stores, and routes in the 

 cities and towns. I am not at all 

 favorable to the National buying and 

 selling honey as a jobber, but I am 

 sure that it is in a position to 

 help the producer get better prices, 

 and not touch the honey either in a 

 commercial way. As it is, the ones 

 who are selling their honey to these 

 "live wires" are losing the profit. 

 Just as well have part of that your- 

 self. 



I heard quite a compliment pass- 

 ed on the Review the other day, 

 and it was given in a way that 

 snows how it is helping some of 

 tiiose who use it to sell their honey. 

 He was a buyer, and remarked that 

 he had written to a number of those 

 who had placed their names in the 

 free lists. He said that they must 

 surely have a better market than 

 he could afford, as the price asked 

 was about two cents higher than he 

 wanted to pay. And he said that 

 they must surely find some suckers 

 to buy their honey, as several 

 wrote that they were sold out. He 

 bought his honey of a man who did 

 not believe in "spending his money 

 to keep up any fool association" 

 FOR 3c LESS than he could get it 

 from any of the members. He 

 bought several thousand pounds, at 

 that: Pretty expensive to NOT 

 belong and keep posted? 



What are we going to make out 

 of the National, anyway? Are we 

 going to keep it up just to keep a 

 place for the good looking fellows, 

 (myself for instance) to stand 

 around and look pretty, and keep 

 out any taint of commercialism, and 

 force the real producers to look 

 elsewhere for aid in selling their 

 hcney, or shall we arrange to give 

 this aid through the influence of 

 the Association? Let us stop and 

 get down "to brass tacks" as the 

 boys say. The association has mem- 

 bers in all parts of the country, and 

 o<' all shades of interest in the honey 

 business. I will roughly estimate 

 and analyze the proportions as well 

 as I can, approximately as follows. 

 Members whose vocation is man- 

 ufacturing supplies and hives, 2-5 

 of one per cent. 



Members who sell honey as a 

 vocation, 1-10 of 1 per cejit. 

 (Continued on page 464) 



