ILLINOIS STATE BBE-KEBPEBS' ASSOCIATION. 



177 



gone from about 42 or 45 cents in 

 1894, up to double that price now, and 

 the price of food af all kinds has gone 

 up. The people raising a few chick- 

 ens in their back yard to furnish a 

 few eggs say they can't do it, and 

 come out even unless they get 35 or 

 40 cents a dozen,, and it seems every- 

 thing we consume has gone almost 

 double, while the price of honey has 

 hardly advanced. I went to a gro- 

 cery man I trade with in Buffalo; he 

 sent for me and wanted to buy some 

 honey. He said, "How much is it?" 

 I said, "16 cents a box." He said he 

 could buy honey from somebody in 

 the northern part of the state of New 

 York at 12 centa I said, "It costs 

 a little to ship it down, and there is 

 some breakage." "Yes," he said, "but 

 there is more margin. I think I ought 

 to buy it where I can buy it a little 

 cheaper." I said, "You can't buy it of 

 me any cheaper. When you were 

 selling bacon at 14 cents, I didn't 

 receive any more for my honey, and 

 you want me now, when bacon is al- 

 most double in price, to give you a 

 reduction on my honey." He saw 

 the point and paid my price for the 

 honey. Stick to your price; make 

 a price and stick to it. i:>on't let the 

 groceryman beat you down. Just as 

 soon as your groceryman begins to 

 fight with you, there is also a fight 

 with the producer of the goods and 

 the person going to distribute them; 

 he wants to get them as cheap as he 

 can. I, on the other hand, being a 

 producer, want to get my goods naeas- 

 ured in the value of other things I 

 have to buy. It is not a question 

 whether 10 or 15 cents for a pound 

 of honey is a high or low price, it is 

 a question of what it will buy in other 

 things. It is a questian of how to 

 get at it. I appeal to the individual 

 bee-keeper to get for your goods what 

 they are worth, and' don't have a panic 

 every time you get a little honey. 



Mr. Davis — In seconding the mo- 

 tion as it was stated here, I wish to 

 say that the President's address em- 

 bodied some very good suggestions. 

 It ""has been my privilege to stat« 

 before in conventions of bee-keepers 

 the necessity there is for getting 

 together. I take exception to the 

 individual bee-keeper trying to do 

 anything by himself; I personally 

 /can't see how it can be done. Tou 



—12 



have been doing it ever since you 

 have kept bees; each one has tried 

 to get the best you could from your 

 dealers, and are you getting it? Per- 

 sonally, I don't believe you are; not 

 when there is such a vast difference 

 between what you get for it, and what 

 the man that eats it pays for it. Now, 

 there is something in the difference 

 between what you get for it and what 

 he pays for it, that is coming to you. 

 If the individual could do it by him- 

 self there would be no Standard Oil, 

 there would be no trusts, there would 

 be nothing like that for us to fight. 

 We haven't got to fear those who are 

 right here with us; we have got the 

 little fellow with his store soap-box 

 hive of bees to compete with. He will 

 come, in and sell all the honey he can 

 make in one year for 9 cents a pound, 

 and he sets the market price in your 

 immediate locaJity, and they think 

 you are an awfully mean fellow if 

 you don't sell your honey as cheap 

 as he does! You have to get to- 

 gether, and the fact that there was 

 no discussion on the subject seemed 

 to me it was so self-evident to this 

 intelligent body that it didn't need 

 any discussion. There is absolutely 

 no other way of deciding- it but by 

 ■getting together. ; 



Mr. Hershiser — I wouldn't have it 

 understood that I don't appreciate the 

 va.lue of getting together; I appreciate 

 that as much as anybody does, but I 

 desired a little discussion on this 

 question in order to sort of emphasize 

 the necesity of getting together; and 

 as appealing to the individual bee- 

 keepers, I certainly mean nothing per- 

 sonal to any individual bee-keeper; 

 I mean the individual bee-keepers as 

 composing a large class, each individ- 

 ual trying to do the best he can. The 

 last speaker says he doesn't think the 

 individual bee-keeper can do anything. 

 While that is not an important mat- 

 ter, I want to relate one little in- 

 cident that one of the inspectors of 

 this state w^as telling me. A whie 

 ago, during his inspection, he came 

 across a bee-keeper who had some 

 1,200 or 1,400 pounds of honey of all 

 grades; some very nice, and some 

 not so nitee, buckwheat and dther hon- 

 ey, and he was looking it over. He 

 said to the inspector: "I have that 

 honey, but I don't know what to do 

 with It." "Why," the inspector said. 



