■VflrSi::: 



IL,LlNOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



55 



less than twelve and one-half (12%) 

 cents; here they sell it for eight cents. 



There are some there that sell it 

 for ten cents. I know some people are 

 suspicious and still I have seen them 

 pass by those places and pay me two 

 and one-half (2%) cents more. And 

 I think it is worth it. 



If we are going' to produce honey at 

 a price that will not pay, the people 

 generally will be on the wing. And 

 there is no use of any good extracted 

 honey being sold for less than twelve 

 and one-half (12%) cents. And comb 

 honey I never sell for less than fif- 

 teen (15) cents. 



Mr. Stone: "Would you put a rate 

 pf twelve and one-half (12%) cents 

 on all packages? 



Mr. Bowen: No, sir. In quantity to 

 the grocer. Then the comb honey, I 

 never sell any of the broken honey for 

 less than fifteen (15) cents, and if I 

 haven't any section honey that" won't 

 sell for fifteen (15) cents I put it in 

 broken honey. , .' 



In some of the markets it runs down 

 to thirteen (13) cents and fourteen (14) 

 cents, because the bee-keepers don't 

 ask the price. They don't have enough 

 independence. Of course, we have a 

 few bee-keepers that have a good 

 many bees and have a good flow; they 

 actually sell their comb honey for ten 

 (10) cents. 



It seems to me we ought to take 

 some steps toward getting better prices 

 for honey. 



Mr. Holekamp: As long as bee- 

 keepers will ship to so-called commis- 

 sion merchants and sell it for such 

 prices as it will bring nothing can be 

 done in that line. 



I know of bee-keepers that will ship 

 sixty thousand pounds of honey in Au- 

 gust from the South to St. Louis and 

 Avant to sell that honey. I know that 

 the honey could be bought for four 

 (4) cents a pound. I, myself, have sold 

 the vftry finest honey at five and one- 

 half (5%) cents a pound simply b«- 

 cause I didn't peddle it out and wished 

 to make room for the next year's crop. 

 As far as I understood, they are offer- 

 ing four and one-half (4%) cents a 

 pound now for extracted honey. That 

 is the biscuit trade. 



When there is a large crop of honey 

 and everybody ships it, it is hard to 

 hold up the price. Parties that pay 

 bee-keepers good prices are looking 



Out, because other parties get hold of 

 this shipped-in honey, and as long as 

 honey is handled as it is now, shipped 

 to commission merchants, the prices 

 will be under set. Unless it is a short 

 crop they will do that. That is 

 what we thought last year, when, in 

 fact, there was a large crop. There is 

 a good deal of that honey in the mar- 

 ket now. What is necessary is to 

 create a demand for honey in the 

 whole market and have honey con- 

 sumed in larger quantities. 



In families in Germany they use it 

 all the time. When you go to a hotel 

 for breakfast there is honey on your 

 table. The families don't think they 

 can live without having so many gal- 

 lons of honey. In this country in the 

 cities they will pay ten (10) cents for 

 a tumbler of honey, and think they 

 ought to buy that only when they have 

 a bad cold. 



Mr. York: Recently in my going 

 around and stopping at hotels I have 

 been calling for honey more than I 

 used to. Tou will find it in more ho- 

 tels. In the hotels in Detroit during 

 the National Convention they had some 

 of the finest of honey. 



Yesterday morning at the Illinois I 

 called for buckwheat cakes and honey 

 and at another this morning. And I 

 think if bee-keepers would call for 

 honey, whether they get it or not, 

 it would induce the restaurant keepers 

 to keep it on hand. 



Some one mentioned about bee- 

 keepers selling at a low price because 

 they have only a little, and that that 

 is like finding just so much money. 

 Some bee-keepers don't know the, 

 prices. 



Mr. Bowen said that that honey is soon 

 out of the way and the little bee-keep- 

 ers have set the price by setting a low 

 price. 



It is a great mistake to allow the 

 small bee-keepers to do that. I know 

 it was that way in Chicago. The deal- 

 er needs a good price. He can't sell 

 it unless he gets a fair price. He has 

 to pay hired help. And by shipping 

 to the commission merchants they sell 

 it for what they can get. 



This fall in Chicago some bee-keep- 

 ers told the commission merchants to 

 sell good comb honey for ten (10) 

 cents a pound. That is wrong. They 

 sent it to one market instead of sell- 

 ing it around home, so there is noth- 



