106 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



E is not granulated in the least; of heavy 

 body, clear as water, and almost as colorless — 

 just a tinge of amber in it. It would be a very 

 hard matter to find a sample of honey present- 

 ing a finer appearance. Emma says, "I rather 

 like it." Mrs. Miller leaves out the "rather." 

 I think I like it belter than any of the preced- 

 ing. Whether its being free from granulation 

 has any thing to do with the preference I can 

 not say. 



F is in appearance the same as E, with just a 

 little deeper tinge of amber. The flavor is also 

 a little stronger, and Mrs. Miller still prefers E; 

 but I'm not sure but I like F the best of the lot. 

 It's not merely a milder flavor than that of A, 

 but the flavor is different. 



I intended to melt the four granulated sam- 

 ples; but on further thought I'll send the whole 

 lot just as they are to Medina. You Medina 

 people have more experience in sampling, and 

 your judgment may not at all agree with mine. 



If these samples were submitted to the palate 

 of the general public. I suspect there would be 

 great diversity of opinion. Some would like 

 all of them, some none; some would like part 

 and dislike part; and between these three there 

 would be all the varying shades of opinion. 

 The liking, too, might increase on acquaintance. 



Marengo, 111. 



[The cut which we have made will show very 

 nicely the style of package in which this honey 

 came so long a distance and in such perfect 

 order. The bottles appear to be none other 

 than the long medicine-vials. used by physicians 

 in their hand-grips. 



There is a plenty in each sample to taste and 

 to inspect as to body and coloi'. Many of the 

 mailing-vials sent us are too small to get a real 

 good taste. Sometimes I find I want a " good 

 big taste" in order to get a fair idea of the 

 hoiioy. 



Now, please don't ask us to supply these. Of 

 course, if there should be a substantial demand 

 for them we would furnish them.— Ed.] 



HONEY-SELLING THROUGH COMMISSION 

 HOUSES. 



PUKE BOTTLED HONEY IN CHICAGO; A REPLY 

 TO S. T. FISH & CO.'S LETTER. 



By Geo. W. York. 



Dear Mr. Root: — I was greatly inteicjted in 

 the article by Mr. S. T. Fish, of Chicago, pub- 

 lished on page 16 of Gleanings for Jan. 1. I 

 was interested for at least two reasons; viz., 1. 

 On account of the boastful tone of the article; 

 and, 2. For the several instances of misleading 

 statements. 



Mr. Fish says he bought two carloads of Utah 

 honey, Oct. 26, paying cash therefor, about 

 $5000, and that " no other firm in this city dared 

 risk a venture of this kind," etc. The /acts are 

 these: The two cars contained 48,000 pounds of 

 comb honey; but nearly 5000 pounds of it went 

 to another commission house, which, at 10 cents 



per pound, was about S500 less than the amount 

 he says he paid for the two cars of honey. 



Again, I know that one other firm offered 

 $5100 cash for the two cars; and that there was 

 at least another firm on the same street abun- 

 dantly able to buy and handle that honey. 

 While Mr. Fish may be a big "fish" in a big 

 river, still there are others just as big in the 

 same old stream. 



Mr. Fish also refers to their now putting up 

 extracted honey in glass bottles for the grocery 

 trade, and that he "can now say it is possible 

 for the con.s»mer to procure pure honey in small 

 packages." He says, "This is something we 

 could not say a yfear ago." Did I not know 

 better, I might possibly believe such assertion. 

 Two years ago this winter I began to bottle 

 pure honey, and sold it through the groceries. 

 Also, Mr. B. Walker— the tall Michigan honey- 

 man— has, for several winters, put up pure 

 honey in tin pails and glass bottles for the retail 

 trade; and Mr. F. Grabbe has done the same 

 thing for a good deal over a year past. The 

 latter gentleman supplies about 200 of the best 

 groceries with pure extracted and comb honey. 



In view of the facts as I have given them, it 

 shows that in one case, at least, too much per- 

 sonal horn-blowing is apt to be somewhat 

 " fishy." 



All the really large and reliable honey-dealers 

 that I know in Chicago can be counted on sev- 

 eral less than the fingers of one hand. 



THOSE ATCHLEY LESSONS IN BEE-KEEPING. 



I have been somewhat amused at the spar- 

 ring that has appeared in some of the bee- 

 papers— and notably in Gleanings— with ref- 

 erence to the " Lessons in Profitable Bee-keep- 

 ing" that were reprinted in the Southland 

 Queen, and indiiectly credited to the Ameridan 

 Bee Journal, only in the first issue of the 

 Southland Queen, when they began. Having 

 paid for those " Lessons" when they first ap- 

 peared in the American Bee Jojirnal, over the 

 name of "Mrs. Jennie Atchley," beginning 

 with May, 1894, of course they belonged to the 

 American Bee Journal. I electrotyped them 

 as fast as they were printed, for the purpose of 

 putting in book form afterward, " Mrs. Atch- 

 ley " paying for the electrotype plates. 



Upon deciding to change the conductor of 

 the " Southern Department" in the American 

 Bee Journal. I shipped the plates to "Mrs. 

 Atchley," and they were used in the Southland 

 Queen. The correct way was to have credited 

 them to the American Bee Journal immediate- 

 ly at the beginning or at the ending of the Les- 

 sons in each number when reprinting them. 

 But the error can easily be overlooked, as many 

 people are unfamiliar with the publishing 

 business, and will have to profit by actual ex- 

 perience. 



Of course, any one who so desires can print 

 those Lessons, as they were not copyrighted 



