1890 



GLEAMIKGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



247 



each; the six-quart, 15 cents; and the eight-quart, 

 20 cents each, and I would weigh them out to iny 

 customers as so much honey, and at the same price, 

 12'/4 cents per pound— that is, 10 pounds, bucket and 

 all, at f 1.35. I quit going to the dwellings almost 

 entirely, and canvassed only the business portion 

 of the towns. 



Allow me to say right here, that I worked hard 

 and made very little money. My expenses were 

 over $3.00 per day, and I lived as economically as I 

 could. 



At towns where I was known, no one asked me if 

 what I was selling was pure honey; but when I got 

 further away from home, people began to look me 

 in the eye and ask if that was hcc honey. I would 

 say In reply, " Taste and see for yourself." " Oh ! " 

 they would say, " I am told that It is made now to 

 imitate so closely, that only a chemical analysis will 

 show the difference. Even comb honey is made and 

 filled by machinery so perfectly to imitate the work 

 of the bee as to defy detection only by an expert." 

 This is the fruit of the " Wiley lie." 



I have found it more difficult to sell the comb 

 than the extracted honey; in fact, I can sell three 

 times as much of the extracted as I can of the comb 

 honey, even at the same price. At Paducah, Ky., 

 I sold at the same price, and the " strained " honey, 

 as they called it, was taken in preference every 

 time. 



If we can, by heating and sealing up the honey, 

 keep it from granulating, it would help things 

 mightily; but I am opposed to putting any thing 

 into it to keep it in a liquid state. I want to say, 

 and tell the truth, "There is Jiofhin;/ but pure hon- 

 ey in it." May God help us. J. G. Nance. 



Gracey, Ky., Feb. 33, 1890. 



Friend N., we have had so many reports 

 in favor of peddling honey that I am rather 

 glad to get one like yours, for I am sure that 

 a gi-eat many have tried it and become dis- 

 couraged. "We have tried it at different 

 times, and never made it pay expenses un- 

 less our boys took garden-stuff, fruit, or 

 something of that sort, in connection with 

 it. When they began to talk about comb 

 honey made by machinery, why did you not 

 offer them some of our reward cards to set- 

 tle the matter ? Ameu to your concluding 

 sentence. May God help us, not only to 

 prosper, but to be honest. Keeping honey 

 constantly in a liquid state, without occa- 

 sional melting, is a pretty hard matter to 

 manage. 



^ i«i 1 



BOTTLING HONEY. 



FRIEND MOOKE GIVES US SOME VALUABI-E HINTS 



IN KEGARD TO HANDLING LIQUID HONEY 



FOR RETAIL. 



Putting extracted honey neatly and expeditiously 

 into square gUss jars, together with coiking, label- 

 ing, and tinfoiling the f^ame, may seom at tirst bifjht 

 an f&f'y task, but is m ichlity qu tc diili< ult. In the 

 fii St place, the novice will be likely to daub, danb, 

 daub, from flist to last, unless great care is taken, 

 and a pan of warm water and a cloth is kept handy 

 to clean up stray bits of honey; for it is the experi- 

 ence of the writer that honey has a greater apti- 

 tude forgetting out of place than any oiher known 

 article, and causes greater annoyance when out of 

 place. One of the greatest aids to neatness is to 

 spread newspapers on the floor at the particular 



places where honey is likely to be spilled, as be- 

 tween the barrel and the melting-tank, and under 

 the faucet of the can from which we are filling, and 

 between the melting-tank and the can that receives 

 the honey. 



Our experience has shown that it is preferable to 

 melt honey out of barrels rather than to use tin 

 cans, for the reason that the expense of the cans is 

 saved, and that barrels are much safer to ship; also 

 in melting the honey in cans (in our large boiler 

 holding two 60 lb. cans), we find it somewhat diffi- 

 cult to get the exact melting-point, and to deter- 

 mine just when the honey must be removed to 

 avoid discoloring or darkening it; for it may not be 

 generally known that honey may be darkened ef- 

 fectually by overheating, even though water be be- 

 tween the honey and the fire. 



A solid chunk of 60 lbs. of crystallized honey is 

 slow to melt. In our practice we first remove the 

 head of the barrel, then set it as close as may be to 

 the double boiler, and shovel out the chunks of can- 

 died honey into the inner boiler until it is nearly 

 full; then close up all as tight as possible, and sub- 

 ject it to a boiling heat for about one hour. Now 

 dip out into a tin can set conveniently near, and 

 one that is fitted with a large IK-inch faucet or 

 honey-gate, for removing the honey. This tin can 

 must be elevated to a level with the upper edge of 

 the boiler, so as to avoid spilling the honey; for this 

 one thing we must keep in mind from beginning to 

 end, that honey will spill and daub all over every 

 thing if you give it half a chance. I believe a per- 

 son may be driven in disgust from the bee-business 

 as surely by daub, daub, daub, as by sting, sting, 

 sting. 



When the honey is all melted and canned, we are 

 ready to prepare the glass jars to receive it. These 

 square glass jars seem particularly fitted for re- 

 tailing by grocers on accouut of the varied sizes, 

 being 3-lb.,l-lb., '^-Ib., and .5-oz. jars, retailing usu- 

 ally for 40, 35, 15, and 10 cts. Here the range of 

 prices suits every one, from the mother who wants 

 only a little for a sicli child, to one who wishes a 

 full meal for several persons. Also they are par- 

 ticularly desirable and acceptable to grocerymen 

 because they make neat shelf goods, do not daub, 

 and require no weighing to sell. These jars pack 

 well for shipping, and economize space. In prepar- 

 ing the jars, first wash and reverse to drain, then 

 take each jar and moisten one or three sides ac- 

 cording to the size of your labels, and pass the jar 

 to an assistant, who will stick on the gummed label 

 easily and quickly. Gummed labels are far the best 

 for convenience and expedition. After labeling, 

 again reverse in a box so as to exclude dust, until 

 needed; wash and label the entire lot of jars you 

 need at once. This may seem an unimportant mat- 

 ter; but if one docs not attend carefully to all the 

 little (?) details, and invent labor-saving methods, 

 he will be apt to find it intolerable drudgery. For 

 instance, in rinsing the jars we dip a jar under wa- 

 ter with one hand, while the other hand places one 

 revei-sed to drip. Thus much valuable time is sav- 

 ed. 



When ready to fill, place a tin can on its side at a 

 convenient hei{?ht, with a slide honej'-gate attached. 

 Have a box full of washed and labeled jars at your 

 right hand, and an empty box at your left, to re- 

 ceive the filled jars. With practice one can fill them 

 with great exactness, and without spiiiing very 

 much. After the jars are filled, drop a cork loosely 



