

ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' AiSSOCIATION. 



-121 



what the market says it is worth. A 

 (few people here cannot set the prices. 



Mr. Ahlers — ^In 1908 I came from the 

 South and shipped up 28 colonies of 

 bees by express. I had a pretty good 

 crop of honey; in two months I had 

 2500 lbs., which was a good crop from 

 28 colonies, and I tried to sell it. It 

 was stated to me, "We are buying our 

 honey at 4 cents a pound; the farmers 

 are only charging me 5 cents a pound". 

 That was 11 years ago. Now every 

 farmer is getting 9 and 10 cents a 

 pound for his honey, and the bee-keep- 

 ers are talking all the time about the 

 price of honey — that the price of honey 

 does not rise; I think that is a raise 

 of nearly 100 per cent. 



Everybody is not so fortunate as to 

 be a good salesman; everybody does 

 not live in a big city like Chicago, 

 where there are many wealthy people 

 who will pay a big price. 



At the Michigan convention every- 

 body was offering their extracted 

 honey at 9% and 10 cents a pound. 

 I have quite a lot of expense in he 

 business, and at thajt price I just de- 

 cided I would stop. I told a party 

 that I would not buy any more. 



The market is nearly bare, and 

 Michigan bee-keepers — most of them 

 — ^have sold their honey for less than 

 8 cents; they can get SVz cents now in 

 a wholesale way, if they have ten 

 tons — they can get 8% cents; that is 

 the price of honey; I don't think that 

 is a low price. 



Where a man was formerly getting 

 $20.00 a month to work in an apiary, 

 you can afford to pay $50.00 a month 

 and* make more money on it at that 

 price than if you were selling it for 

 5 cents a pound. Where you live in 

 a city like Chicago, and have good 

 salesmen, you can get a good price 

 for your honey. If I lived on the out- 

 skirts of Chicago, I am sure I would 

 sell lots of honey at 25 cents a pound, 

 but I cannot sell it for that, not living 

 here. 



Mrs. Holbrook — Upon what basis 

 are these low prices estimajted? One 

 season we get honey; the next season 

 we get half a crop; the following 

 season we may get a full crop. I 

 would like to know how you can pro- 

 duce honey for 7 and 8 cents, with, an 

 average of one-half crop for three 

 seasons in succession, and pay $50. CO 

 a month for an assistant, with lOO to 



300 colonies? In this locality, with 

 bee-supplies going up every year, and 

 with the price of help going up every 

 season, and when some bee-keeper in 

 an outside town will offer 1,000 pounds 

 of comb honey at thirteen cents? 



Mr. Ahlers — He is not a bee-keeper, 

 who has only 1,000 pounds of honey 

 to sell, and sells it at 13 cents. They 

 are farmers, as a rule; they do the 

 work themselves — lots of them, prob- 

 ably on (Sunday, and they don't pay 

 out anything for labor. I figured up 

 the other day, and I paid out $100 

 during the month of October for labor, 

 and I board three or four men part of 

 the time. I have not had a good crop, 

 but I made enough to pay my fare to 

 the conventions, and get me a new 

 suit of clothes, any way! 



Mrs. Holbrook — ^We have the right 

 to take into consideration that that 

 money invested is entitled to from 3 

 to 6 per cent interest, also. 



Mr. Ahlers — ^Some day I am going 

 to bring a statement to the conven- 

 tion, and show the whole season's 

 business; what I have paid out and 

 what I have taken in. The man who 

 is going to beat me on that has to 

 get up a little early, and work harder, 

 and produce better honey, and I will 

 show that I make money. 



Mr. Taylor — This gentleman ihas 

 saved enough money to come to the 

 convention and get a new suit of 

 clothes — what did you sell your honey 

 at? 



Mr. Ahlers — The lowest price I am 

 selling honey for is 11% cents — ezz- 

 tracted honey, in orders of 60-pound 

 cans; that is the lowest price. 



Mr. Taylor — ^What do you get for 

 comb? 



Mr. Ahlers — ^I don't handle it; I 

 would not sell it; I have a few sec- 

 tions that I give away. I promised 

 my wife, if business got a little bet- 

 ter, that she was to ihave a new hat, 

 if it didn't cost too much! 



Mrs. Holbrook — ^We are entitled to 

 something more than a suit of clothes, 

 and a piece of bread — we want some 

 honey on our bread, and we are en- 

 titled to it if we give honest devotion 

 to our work. We want to make the 

 business a paying business if we are 

 going to follow it. If it is not worth 

 that, we must put our thought to 

 something else that will be remunera- 

 tive. 



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