ILLINOIS STATE BEE -KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



81 



I have had some help through the 

 Information Bureau of the National 

 Association, telling me who has honey 

 for sale, and what kind, and I suppose 

 I found some customers by letting 

 them know what I had for sale, and at 

 what time, so when they are asked 

 they can refer them to me. By tha:t 

 way we can receive material aid, and 

 it comes very near Mr. Hatch's sug- 

 gestion of co-operation. 



Each man reports his own price to 

 Mr. France, but it would be well if 

 we could have as nearly a uniform 

 price as possible. I can get 10 cents 

 a pound for first quality basswood and 

 clover honey in a small way, sold di- 

 rect to consumers, but I don't think 

 it is wise. 



I have not been able to convince my- 

 self I ought to ask more. I have sold 

 all I could produce at 9 cents; I am 

 not sure but what it could have been 

 sold at 10. I wish you would work this 

 out. The errors of this calculation you 

 can see as represented there. There 

 ought not to be so much difference be- 

 tween the cost to the consumer and the 

 producer. This is true, not only of 

 honey but of other things. Take it in 

 potatoes — the consumer pays from 80 

 cents to $1.00 a bushel for potatoes; 

 the producer, where I live, sells them 

 for 20 to 22 cents, and they have sold 

 thousands of bushels at 15 cents. Why 

 is it potatoes sell for 15 cents, and re- 

 tail for 51.00? 



It is not thQ bee-keeper alone, but 

 it is so with farm products of all kinds, 

 except possibly wheat, but these mat- 

 ters* can be improved; the conditions 

 can be made better. 



There are too many middle men — 

 transportation charges, and numerous 

 ether things that consume the profit. 



Mr. Macklin — Mr. Hatch, first gentle- 

 man, spoke about the Colorado situa- 

 tion. I have been through the Colo- 

 rado country, and it is very peculiar 

 because there are only certain districts 

 in Colorado whei-e there is honey. The 

 <3istrict is limited. Here we practical- 

 ly produce it throughout the entire 

 State. 



I met Mr. Rauchfuss in I>enver; the 

 off grades and broken sections he was 

 selling out in glass jars. 



They are well organized in Colorado, 

 but the territory is limited. He is not 

 the only man who sells honey in Colo- 

 rado — there is the Montrose organiza- 



tion. They all co-operate and sell for 

 practically the same price. 



I have had no trouble in selling my 

 best grade of extracted honey for 10 

 cents, without peddling or advertising. 

 I have a trade I sell to; I sold about 

 1,000 pounds, possibly. I don't think 

 it is advisable to buy honey to supply 

 customers. "Wlien I am out, I am out. 



The matter of co-operation is a 

 pretty big thing for this State. If we 

 had almost standard honey, as in irri- 

 gated countries, we would have no 

 difficulty, but we have here all kinds 

 or grades. 



Mr. Huffman — I would like to ask 

 Mr, Hatch if he gets pay for his pack- 

 age, at IQi cents? 



Mr. Hatch — No, that goes in. 



Mr. Wbitney — ^I would like to ask 

 Mr, Hatch whether the small bee- 

 keepers throughout the country belong 

 to these co-operative associations to 

 any extent? 



Mr. Hatch — ^In Arizona, Colorado and 

 California, as has been stated, the con- 

 ditions are quite different from what 

 it would be here; they can very easily 

 concentrate all their honey in Los 

 Angeles and San Diego; and in Colo- 

 rado at Denver, because most of the 

 bee-keepers are right around those 

 points. And it is true in Arizona, that 

 nearly all of the bee-keepers live right 

 around within 50 or 60 miles of Phoe- 

 nix, so they can easily concentrate 

 right there; all in those States belong 

 to their Association; it is the first 

 thing a bee-keeper does — ^join an As- 

 sociation. 



Mr. Wilcox — ^Does that apply to the 

 small bee-keeper? 



Mr. IHatch — ^Tes, it does. In Los 

 Angeles some few bee-keepers sell it 

 to their neighbors. 



Mr. Wilcox — In Illinois, and I think 

 it is so in most of the Middle West and 

 East, the small bee-keeper has a bet- 

 ter market at home than he would 

 have to join an association, because 

 many of them sell their honey at from 

 15 to 20 cents for extracted honey, to 

 local people. 



Mr. Hatch — ^^The association could 

 not probably help him in any way. 



Dr. Miller — ^I would not like to see 

 that statement go on record without 

 being challenged — that these inde- 

 pendent men would not be helped by 

 the Association — by co-operation. If 

 the general prices over the country are 



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