690 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Nov. 1 



HENRY W. BRITTON'S BUNGALOW AND APIARY AT STOITGHTON, MASS., WHERE THE MAS- 

 SACHUSETTS SOCIETY OF BEE-KEEPERS WAS ENTERTAINED LAST JULY. 



loo thick or too thin to fit well I set it in 

 another pail and select a frame from which 

 a piece can be cut to fit. Sometimes I have 

 several pails in course of filling at one time. 

 About three or four pieces will fill a 5-lb. 

 pail, and four or five will fill a 10-lb. pail. 

 This leaves the clean-cut edges of the honey 

 in view when the pail is opened. As a 

 frame is emptied I scrape all adhering hon- 

 ey and burr-comb right into the uncapping- 

 tank and set the frame back into the super. 

 If I happen to find a frame that has had a 

 patch of drone brood in it I either save it 

 for extracting or cut out the piece and chip 

 it up fine into the tank and i)ack the rest. 

 We must be very careful about this so that 

 only the finest honey may enter the pails. 



After several pails are filled they are 

 weighed; and if they do not come up to the 

 weight determined upon we add liquid hon- 

 ey until they do; but we try to use as little 

 liquid as possible. 



At the beginning of the season I deter- 

 mine on the weight and price i)er pail and 

 stick to it through the season, so all cus- 

 tomers are treated alike, and there is no 

 kick. In fixing the price 1 have to consid- 

 er the price of section and extracted honey 

 in our market, also cost of pails, and the 

 comparative cost of producing bulk comb 

 honey. 



To make sales I load up my wagon v ith 

 pails and start out. When I reach my first 

 prospective customer I approach him "some- 

 thing like this: 



"Good morning. Can I sell you a nice 

 l)ail of honey this morning?" 



Then, without waiting for an answer, 

 holding the pail I am carrying in one hand, 

 I take off the cover with the other hand 

 and hold it so as to bring the nice combs of 

 honey into view. As his eyes rest on the 

 honey his hand involuntarily goes to the 

 vicinity of his pocketbook, and he remarks, 

 ' ' That does look nice. How do you sell it?' ' 



The price is then stated, the money is 

 paid, and, after a "thank you " and a cheer- 

 ful "good day, you will want some more 

 when I come again," I pass on to the next. 



After I have sold a customer a pail of 

 bulk comb honey he is sure to want more; 

 and I have no trouble in making sales the 

 next time I go that way. It sells equally 

 well among the farmers and the ])eoi)le in 

 town, especially the working people. 



Last year I went on the road very little to 

 make sales, as most of the orders were sent 

 in by phone or letter, and many came di- 

 rectly to the house for the honey. 



Chemung, N. Y. 



FIELD MEETING OF THE MASSACHUSETTS 

 SOCIETY OF BEE-KEEPERS, 



BY J. M. LEWIS. 



The annual field-day meeting of the 

 Massachusetts Society of Bee-keepers was 

 held .July 23 at Stoughton, on the grounds 

 of Mr. Henry W. Britton, who has a beau- 

 tiful pine grove situated on a slope just back 

 of his residence, half a mile from the rail- 

 road station. Automobiles were in waiting 



