98 



SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



It should be a sort of " clearing- 

 house" for its members, of ideas as well 



C. A. Hatch. 



as actual products. Not that the prod- 

 ucts of the membership should be act- 

 ually handled, but members should be 

 placed in such close touch with each other 

 that each would know what all are do- 

 ing in the way of producing and selling 

 honey and wax; this leaves no place for 

 secrets. 



The Secretary or General Manager 

 should be able at any time to furnish 

 to members or dealers the exact amount 

 of bee-products held by each member, 

 and at what price it could be put on the 

 cars. If a dealer ordered a certain 

 amount of honey of the General Mana- 

 ger, he should be able to fill it from 

 the nearest member having that grade 

 of goods to ■ sell, to the mutual benefit 

 of both producer and dealer. 



He who thinks the National can dic- 

 tate prices and "hold up" the consumer 

 for an advance, is harboring a delusion, 

 besides fostering a principle that has 

 given us over to the power of the trusts. 



That the producer does not get all he 

 is entitled to is self-evident, but he has, 

 as a rule, no one to blame but himself; 



for no sooner does a large crop come to 

 him, and his neighbors, than they all 

 rush it into the nearest market, with the 

 result that they each compete with the 

 other, and the market goes to smash, 

 and freight and commission consume 

 what ought to have been a fair com- 

 pensation. 



The sooner we learn that the interests 

 of dealer and producer require that each 

 should be fully informed as to crop of 

 each year, the better; and do not for a 

 moment imagine you can get ahead of 

 the dealer and get inside information 

 before he does ; he has correspondents 

 in every neighborhood that keep him in- 

 formed, and it remains to inform our- 

 selves as well, and be prepared to act 

 intelligently, thereby will we be able to 

 ask for our crop what it is worth, with 

 the certainty that we will get it. The 

 mere fact that you are a member of the 

 great National Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion is not going to help you the least; 

 help can come only from facts and sta- 

 tistics which it can furnish, and if you 

 would get benefit from these you must 



Vice-President Geo. E. Huston. 



be prompt to do your share toward mak- 

 ing them full and complete; give and 

 you shall receive, withhold, and what 



'J ; 1 i.ii^^^i^3s^^- 



