ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS'" AlSSOCIATION. 



Ill 



sorts of forms. I believe the Associa- 

 tion would like to hear from the Presi- 

 dent on this. 



Pres. York — I was going to say- 

 something' about the boxing of the 60 

 pound cans of honey. I know that the 

 American Can Company use pretty 

 light lumber for boxing their cans, and 

 Mr. Burnett spoke about boxes from 

 California being heavier and better 

 nailed. The cans used to be shipped 

 to California either flat or unboxed, 

 and the boxes they make in California 

 are better than the boxes they make 

 here. "I have heard that explained, 

 and I think it is true, too. The Amer- 

 ican Can Company used to put up 

 pretty poor boxes. . 



Mr. Burnett — The cans are now made 

 • better too. 



A Member — 'I suppose it is the air of 

 California! 



Pres. York — Probably the climate 

 helps. Mr. Moore wanted me to say 

 something on the use of honey. We 

 have it on our home table three times 

 a day, and oftener if we eat oftener 

 than that. I wish everybody did that, 

 and I had the honey; I think I could 

 sell lots of it. But I believe, as Mr. 

 Whitney says, something could be done 

 along the line of advertising. I have 

 talked of that, and I have done it in 

 my time, as well, but it takes money 

 to advertise. If every bee-keeper will 

 do his part in developing the home 

 market — distributing leaflets telling 

 about the use of honey — it is bound in 

 time to have an effect. M;r. Hatch 

 was saying this forenoon that he had 

 disposed of something like 20,000 

 pounds of honey. Mr. Ahlers, who was 

 here this morning, has sold something 

 more than 40,000 pounds of extracted 

 honey this year. Mr. France, of Wis- 

 consin, disposes of from 20,0.00 to 30,- 

 000 pounds annually. His crop was 

 something like 30,000 pounds this year. 

 If every bee-keeper will sell as much 

 as he can in his home market, he is 

 bound to cultivate a market, and peo- 

 ple who get it, and like it, will buy 

 it year after year. 



One reason why there is such a 

 difference between the price the bee- 

 keeper gets for his honey, and the con- 

 sumer pays, is on account of the very 

 small packages. When I was in the 

 business and used glass jars, there was 

 a great deal of lahor in putting them 

 up, three or four dozen in a case, and 

 selling them to the grocers, and deliv- 



ering them to the grocers. There is a 

 lot of work connected with the bottling 

 business, and it has to he paid for. You 

 cannot get help for nothing, and a 

 place to run the business for nothing; 

 insurance costs something; and that 

 all is bound to be added to the price 

 of honey paid to the bee-keeper, and 

 people must expect to pay more than 

 the original price. I think, myself, 

 that 24 cents a pound for extracted 

 hcney, as indicated by the chart on the 

 77all, is altogether too high. I am sure 

 it can be sold for considerably less 

 than that, and a fair profit made. I 

 think that from 18 to 20 cents would 

 be high enough for a single pound 

 through the grocery trade. I think 

 there is money in it, but it has to be 

 done on a fairly large scale, and when 

 you talk of doing a business of 1,000 or 

 5,000 pounds, that is not worth men- 

 tioning; that is no business at all. You 

 bave to do it up into tens of thousands 

 of pounds in order to make a business 

 of it, and make it pay. 



Mr. Burnett — You made reference to 

 this card up here — the cost of honey. 

 I am going to object to the cost of 

 honey, 8 cents a pound. This is a 

 local, not a national organization. 

 Where do you manage to get a freight 

 rate of a cent and three-quarters? 

 Take the cent off for any member of 

 this organization for freight. Bottle, 

 4^4 cents; how is that? 



Mr. Moore — that is right, for a one- 

 pound bottle. 



Pres. York — About 3 or 3% cents. 



Mr. Burnett— rl think about 3 cents 

 in the qua,ntities the ordinary one buys 

 it. What does "selling" mean here? 



Pres. York — That is Mr. Hatch's 

 chart. 



Mr. Hatch — That isn't my chart. I 

 would like to explain that. It was 

 made by Mr. Crane, who understands 

 the business. That is his table. Mine 

 is on the other side. When you get 

 through with that, I will turn it 

 around. 



Mr. Burnett — I would like to know 

 why selling comes in here, because 

 later there is the jobber and retailer. 



Mr. Hatch — That is selling to the 

 jobber. 



Mr. Burnett — That would be anoth- 

 er freight chai-ge? 



Mr. Moore — ^Parmer's cost of sell- 

 ing probably. 



Mr. Burnett — ^I suppose the farmer 

 is producing it. That is a pretty 



