THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



149 



time— the loss sometimes running- up into 

 hundreds of dollars. 



De\eloping a Special Market for Special 

 Articles. 



Most of my readers know how myself 

 and others have developed a mail order 

 trade for our extracted honey at two 

 cents a pound above the market price; 

 well, perhaps you have never thought of 

 it, but it is possible to work up a similar 

 market for various other commodities, 

 such as apples, potatoes, eggs, etc. To 

 illustrate: It is impossible to raise nice, 

 mealy potatoes on the black, mucky soils 

 of Illinois. Missouri and Mississippi and 

 other States in that region, while the dry 

 sandy soil of Northern Michigan pro- 

 duces potatoes that are unsurpassed in 

 flavor and quality. People living in the 

 "mucky" regions are willing to pay twice 

 the local market price in order to secure 

 dry, mealy potatoes from the new sandy 

 soil of Northern Michigan. Each year 

 my brother and I sell a few barrels of 

 potatoes to parties in Illinois, they looking 



upon it as a favor to be thus supplied 

 Now then, if 1 were a farmer in 

 Northern Michigan, I should make a 

 specialty of growing some choice variety 

 of potatoes, the early Ohio, for instance, 

 and 1 should advertise them in the news- 

 papers circulating in the region where it 

 is impossible to grow other than the flat, 

 stale and "watery" potatoes. 1 should 

 not charge an exorbitant price, but I 

 should expect to get above the regular 

 market price, and I ought to, considering- 

 the expense of advertising, packing and 

 shipping. Gradually I would build up a 

 trade that would take thousands of 

 bushels each year. No matter how 

 plentiful the crop, nor how low the price 

 in the open market, I could always be 

 certain of a market at a very fair price. 

 The man who raises choice crops of 

 apples, could do exactly the same thing 

 in making a market for his apples. The 

 same with eggs, or butter, or almost any 

 farm product. I believe that one man 

 has built up almost a national reputation 

 for sausages sold in this manner and 

 shipping by express. 



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Selected Articles 



AND EDITORIAL COMMENTS. 



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SHIPPING BEE.S. 



How They May be Sent by Express with 

 Perfect Success. 



A Mr. J. C. McCubbins, of California, 

 sent SI 0.00 to Mr. T. L. McMurray, of 

 W. Va., for two colonies of " Superior all- 

 over-yellow. Italian bees." Later he paid 

 $18.13 express charges. One colony was 

 dead, and the other contained only a few 

 live bees — simply a weak nucleus. The 

 combs were not wired; were built from 

 starters, only partly completed, and most- 

 ly broken down. The purchaser wrote 



the seller, but, receiving no reply, wrote 

 to Gleanings. When Mr. Root wrote to 

 Mr. McMurray, the latter replied, among- 

 other things, that he "didn't claim his 

 combs were wired, and strong enough to 

 stand rough handling." He then goes on 

 to say that " bees are shipped at owner's 

 risk." 



The Roots very properly say that un- 

 wired combs are not fit for shipment; that 

 partly drawn combs ought not to be used. 

 They call attention to^the need of using- old 

 brood combs, that are tough from the 

 many layers of cocoons. 



It is true that express companies will 

 not assume any risk in carrying bees, but 



