ii; 



EIGHTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



Illinois will ask their members of the 

 Legislature to vote for that bill, I will 

 guarantee you that it will pass. Now, 

 I will tell you that the information 

 against the law that went to the Legis- 

 lature came from this Association. 

 They objected to that bill — very sorry 

 it should happen. 



Mr. Kluck: If the bee-keepers of 

 Illinois were a unit to have this foul 

 brood laAv, we would have it the first 

 session of the legislature; but we find 

 so many that don't care, so many that 

 don't know, and a few that don't want 

 it. That is the only thing to hinder. 

 If the bee-keepers would go to their 

 representatives and tell them that we 

 want such a law, we would have it. 



Pres. York: That is the thing to do. 



Telling the Honey Crop. 



"What has the average bee-keeper 

 to gain by telling the public what his 

 crop is, and also by advising others to 

 engage in bee-keeping? What do we, 

 as an association, gain by advising be- 

 ginners to go into bee-keeping?" 



Mr. Wheeler: I think that is a good 

 question. I think it is of vital import- 

 ance to this bee-keeping community 

 as to how they are to dispose of their 

 honey, what we are to do with the crop 

 after we get it. The woods are full of 

 honey and there is no apparent market 

 for it. The market is slow this year, 

 and I think it would be a wise thing 

 for this Association to spend an hour 

 in discussing the manner of selling 

 honey, rather than some other foolish 

 question. 



Mr. Horstmann: I don't think there 

 is anything to gain by telling the pub- 

 lic what your crop is, because it isn't 

 the public's business what crop you 

 get. But I don't think any one should 

 be so selfish as to keep his business all 

 to himself. If any one wants' any in- 

 formation about bee-keeping, you 

 should give it to him. If any one asks 

 me if there is any profit in keeping 

 bees, I will answer him, and give him 

 all the information he wants, and will 

 not charge a cent. I don't think it 

 would hurt me if any one would start 

 next door. 



Mr. Wilcox: I think that is a good 

 question. I may not agree with Mr. 

 Wheeler or Mr. Horstmann in their 

 conclusions. I am very positive in imy 

 own mind that it is an advantage to 

 all bee-keepers to tell what their crop 

 is. I will answer one question at a 



time, because I wish to speak to the 

 point and nothing else. If no one told 

 what the crop was, how would you 

 know what price to ask for your 

 honey? If no one told what their crop 

 was, how would we know what the 

 honey crop of the country was, and 

 what the market ought to be? How 

 would we find out if nobody told? If 

 the bee-keepers w^ould keep it to them- 

 selves and never let us know what 

 their crops are, how could the market 

 establish prices? We cannot get in- 

 formation without giving it, because 

 each man gives to the other, and he 

 receives in return the same informa- 

 tion from him. It is the means of 

 maintaining steady prices. Without it 

 they could not be -maintained; the 

 trade could not be regulated; they 

 could not establish prices; they would 

 not know what the prices ought to be. 

 This fall I had to wait until I got re- 

 ports from various States before I 

 knew w^hat to ask for my honey, be- 

 fore I dared to offer it on the market. 

 Neither did I dare to buy. And it is 

 so with every dealer. He cannot know 

 what to ask for his honey until he 

 knows something about the crop of 

 the country. 



Mr. Holbrook: Emphasize the word 

 "public," and it will change the whole 

 thirg. 



Dr. Miller: It seems to me the ques- 

 tion as discussed so far is as to wheth- 

 er there is anything to gain or not; 

 and the question really is, what is 

 there to gain? This occurred to me: 

 The Agricultural Department of the 

 United States spends thousands of dol- 

 lars to get information in advance as 

 to the wheat crop, for instance, and 

 this Department is supposed to be in 

 the interest of the farmer, and that 

 knowledge is spread broadcast over 

 the land, as to what the wheat crop is. 

 They will tell you beforehand what the 

 prospect is when there is no crop, and 

 they will tell you what the prospect is 

 after the wheat has grown, and they- 

 will tell you about it when it is har- 

 vested. They make public all about it. 

 I don't know whether this applies to 

 the honey crop; but if not, it will per- 

 haps be a good thing to make public 

 the crop. Why is it not good to make 

 known the honey crop? I am not an- 

 swering the question. 



Mr. Wilcox: It could not be made 

 public if the bee-keepers would not 

 tell it. 



Mr. Kluck: I recall an incident of a. 



