454 THE BEEKEEPERS' REVIEW 



Such is not true of similar staples. Sugar a staple article of general use^ 

 is sold all over the country at uniform prices. That is the condition of affairs 

 toward which we should strive to bring the marketing of honey. We must 

 depart from some former methods. The effort of some has been to sell in 

 small quantities at very high prices. Small packages tend to high prices and 

 small consumption. What we want is a reasonable price, a large consumption 

 and a universal demand. We could have it if honey were placed where it be- 

 longs in the economy of the home. Take my own state of Wisconsin for ex- 

 ample; it is splendid honey producing territory both as to quantity and qual- 

 ity. There are really only a few beekeepers and only a small production of 

 honey. On the other hand the state is simply flooded with the miserable and 

 unhealthful glucose mixtures. 



If there was the same ready market for honey that there is for butter 

 and eggs, more honey would be produced, more people would found happy 

 homes on the product of the bee. What we should work to bring about is the 

 uniform quality, uniform package and uniform price. Heretofore many bee- 

 keepers have been forced to take a low price for their honey, but the house- 

 keeper has paid so much that no honey habit could be formed and it would not 

 become a staple in the home. Bringing the consumer and producer as close 

 together as possible is a desirable end. The mail order method is a great 

 help. In my own practice I ship many packages to families direct by express. 

 The parcel post can be used to some extent, especially on the rural routes. Dis- 

 card very small packages as much as possible, they are not necessary. To 

 illustrate; a few days ago a lady called me on the phone, "Hello! have you any 

 extracted honey?" "Yes." "Well we've got the whooping cough out here, can 

 you send a quart by parcel post?" "I have none in quarts, ten pound pail is 

 the smallest." "Well send that then." So the ten pound pail was sent. I charged 

 one dollar and ten cents for the package and the postage was ten cents more. 

 In this case a gain was made for all parties concerned by reason of having no 

 package smaller than ten pounds. 



Well, some one will ask, "What can we do?" We can't do much to be 

 sure with such a small membership. We must work to organize the beekeepers, 

 then we should look to larger methods. Central warehouses with grading de- 

 partments under expert management may have to be provided, where any pro- 

 ducer can send his honey and receive the value thereof in cash or in a ware- 

 house receipt which would bring the cash later. These things could be done 

 with cooperation. Without cooperation things will go on as they have been and 

 the glucose factories will get the money from the people. 



In regard to prices, there is no system at present. I sold some extracted 

 honey to a commission man at ten cents per pound. He told me later that he 

 put it in small packages and got twenty-one cents selling it to retailers. What 

 the consumer paid is more than I can tell, but probably twenty-five or thirty 

 cents per pound. 



How many beekeepers would pay such prices if they should be found 

 among the consumers having given up production ? You know that as a class 

 we would not pay such prices. We have had honey on our table every day for 

 thirty years or more, but I am free to sav. I would not pay twenty to thirty 

 cents for extracted honey. Would I use Karo ? Don't think it for a minute. 

 I would not use that insipid, impure, chemical compound if I never had any 

 sweet to grace a pan cake. But I tell you what I could do. I could get pure 

 southern cane syrup delivered up north at no more than one dollar per .fjallon. 

 A little sorghum would come in handy at time?-, likewise maple syrup, or good 



