STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATIOIf. I3I 



demand. It costs too much to put it up and handle it. The 

 grocery man would rather make three cents on a 20-cent 

 package than 2 cents on a lo-cent package. 



A Member — That depends. 



Mr. Starkey — I believe in this case it will apply. You 

 will grant that you can sell twice as many. 



A Member — No, we won't. 



Mr. Starkey — There is a demand for something that is 

 not supplied. The grocery-man is just about as honest as 

 any other man. They are trying to deal squarely, but if they 

 find that the customers won't buy 20-ounce sections they 

 get something else The grocery man is not dishonest. 



Mr. Horstmann — There is no need of anybody being dis- 

 honest in selling comb honey. Now, I sell both extracted and 

 comb honey. People come to me and ask me the price of 

 honey. I say, "I sell the extracted at 15 cents a pound, and the 

 comb honey at 20 cents a section. I tell them they weigh al- 

 most a pound; some weigh a pound and some weigh a lit- 

 tle less. We sell it by the section, we don't sell it by the 

 pound; but if you want a full pound, I will sell you a full 

 pound of extracted honey for a certain price and I sell honey 

 in bulk." They bring the jar to buy it in. Anyone can come 

 to me and buy honey, and if he wants a pound he won't get 

 a light-weight section. If he wants the latter I let him have 

 them, if I have them to dispose of. If they sell my honey 

 to somebody else and sell 12 ounces for a pound it is their 

 dishonesty, not mine. I am honest in my sales. I tell them 

 just how much I think they weigh. .. : 



Dr. Miller — I am very glad to accept the fact, and I do 

 believe it is a fact, that that argument that a lighter section 

 will sell better is from the mere fact that it is a lighter section ; 

 and the one thing that proves it is, that when the change 

 was made from the 2-pound to the i-pound sections, there 

 was no deception in the weight in either case. The i-pound 

 section would sell in the market for one cent a pound more, 

 and the only reason was because it was a lighter section; and 

 still with all that, when I tell you that a light-weight case of 

 sections will sell for 2 cents a pound more than one weigh- 

 ing a pound each, I am afraid ' that is because the grocers 

 expect to sell these with the unspoken understanding on the 

 part of the customer that they are getting a pound section. 



Mr. Muth — I don't believe. Dr. Miller, that I am doing 

 something that is wrong. The retail grocers as a whole are 

 honest, and very seldom do you see a sign "20 cents a pound," 

 or "18 cents a pound," when you see section honey. You 

 will find a little ticket on it — ^20, 18 or 16 cents a comb, but 

 they want to buy by the pound and they want to buy light- 

 weight sections. There is no deception. The only deception 

 is when the bee-keepers stick the dealer on honey that 

 weighs more than a pound ! I am talking from the dealers' 

 point of view, and right straight. 



Mr. Niver — One point that has not been touched. A 



2-pound piece of honey put on the table will go on and off 



•a number of times, and the last few times it won't be eaten, 



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