412 



C4LEAN1NG!S IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



flying clouds as they journeyed onward, paying 

 their respects to the old mountains only by occa- 

 sionally saluting them with a light shadow as 

 they skipped over the bald heads of these gigantic 

 and aged mountains. Suliice it to say, Mr. K. was 

 wild with delight and admiration as we skipped 

 along from bridge to bridge and curve to curve un- 

 til we reached Bristol in the evening; and whilfe 

 Mrs. M. was preparing supper, Mr. R. inquired 

 whether the honey was near the house, so he could 

 see it that night. Although Mr. R. had been under 

 excitement all day, and must have been very tired, 

 his great energy and business habits would not per- 

 mit him to retire without first taking a look at the 

 honey. So, after satisfying our appetites I con- 

 ducted him to the honey-room, at the rear of the 

 house. 



Although Mr. R. is a very shrewd and thorough 

 business man, I very soon made up my mind that 

 he would buy my honey before he left. The next 

 morning he was up and in the honey-room by day- 

 light. After doing a few chores— more to allow 

 him to be by himself than for the chores themselves 

 —I joined him just as the bell rang for breakfast. 



" Good-morning, Mr. R. I see you are making 

 some figures. Does it figure to suit you?" 



" Well, yes; but can't you make your price half a 

 cent less?" 



" No, Mr. R., I have already given you half a cent 

 on a pound, in order to induce you to buy the hon- 

 ey. You will see that, by giving you the hall-cent 

 which I have, and if there are 11 tons, you are get- 

 ting $110 for your trouble in coming up here. But, 

 our breakfast is ready; let us go In." 



" How soon can you ship the honey?" 



" I think we can get it ready in a week." 



" Very well; then I will take it at your price, and 

 send you a check for the amount on receipt of the 

 honey. Well, Mrs. M., I have made a $4000 trade with 

 your husband this morning, before breakfast." 



" Have you bought the honey?" 



" I have; and Mr. M. says I must stay a few days 

 and help him to grade it." 



"We shall be pleased to have you; and I dare 

 say you will enjoy the business, while your advice 

 may be beneficial to my husband in the matter of 

 putting up honey in the most practical style to suit 

 your market." 



Breakfast over, we returned to the honey-room, 

 where the help had arrived, and we commenced 

 work; and after watching the various manipula- 

 tions of the honey as it was being prepared for 

 shipment, from the scraping of the sections to the 

 crating and weighing, Mr. R. looked up to me with 

 a smile, and said: 



"Mr. Manum, I want to work a little at each part 

 of this work, for the purpose of knowing how it is 

 done." 



" Very well; you may commence by scraping one 

 clamp of sections, and you may occupy this girl's 

 place while doing so. In the mean time I will find 

 something else for her to do. But, first, she may 

 teach you how to clean one section while I go and 

 catch a few queens to fill an order received last 

 night." 



I had caught but one queen when I heard a great 

 uproar and laughter in the honey-room. I will 

 here state that Mr. R. has a very agreeable, lively, 

 and cheerful nature, and he enjoys a good time as 

 well as the next one, and especially a good joke, 

 whether he is the victim or not. Upon hearing the 



uproar I hastened to the honey-house to learn its 

 cause and to enjoy the sport myself. As I entered 

 the room I found all the girls standing, and in a fit 

 of laughter, as well as those from the other rooms. 

 All were looking at Mr. R., who, it seems, had 

 punched a hole in a section of honey with his fin- 

 ger; and while holding it up to decide what to do 

 with the " leaky thing," as he termed it, he drop- 

 ped it on the floor, and of course smashed it; and It 

 was his looks of despair at his ill luck which caused 

 the girls to laugh so heartily. He finished his 

 clamp of sections, however, in a creditable manner, 

 and disappeared for a time. Where he could have 

 gone, no one knew; but he soon reappeared with a 

 large package of choice candy, which he placed at 

 the disposal of the girls, saying, at the same time, 

 that the best way to close a girl's mouth was to 

 sweeten it. This he did very efl'ectually, for the 

 girls did not again mention to him the broken sec- 

 tion of honey, and he was at once considered the 

 hero of the company. 



Mr. Robinson progressed finely in the different 

 branches of the work, until he was at last promoted 

 to the delicate work of grading; and I found him 

 perfectly at home in this work. His experience in 

 selling honey had taught him how this should be 

 done; and instead of being his tutor, 1 found my- 

 self his interested pupil, greatly to my advantage 

 ever since. 



After watching Mr. R. a few moments I asked 

 him if he thought it was best to grade the No. 1 as 

 close as he was doing. His answer was, " Yes, most 

 assuredly;" and he remarked: 



" Now, Mr. M., I want to impress upon your mind 

 the importance of careful grading. For instance, 

 you should always be careful to have every section 

 in each grade be true to that grade. Never allow a 

 single section of No. 3 to go in with No. 1, or No. 3 

 with No. 2, and so on; because if a single section of 

 No. 3 is found in a crate marked No. 1, the whole 

 crate will have to be sold as No. 3, notwithstanding 

 it contains but one section of No. 3. This rule holds 

 good with fruits, vegetables, and all kinds of goods. 

 All should be true to name and grade. Honest 

 goods will always sell and command the highest 

 price. Therefore work for a reputation ; and when 

 once gained, strive to keep it, because a lost repu- 

 tation is much harder to regain than to have kept 

 it. Therefore be watchful, and send us honest 

 goods, and I will guarantee that you will always be 

 pleased with the result." 



After spending two days with us, Mr. R. left for 

 his home; and on taking his departure he declared 

 that he had enjoyed himself exceedingly well; say- 

 ing that he could now tell his customers all about 

 the honey-business, as he had been where it was 

 produced, and worked at the business with his own 

 hands, and that he knew that it was strictly pure. 



On taking his leave of the family, Mrs. M. pre- 

 sented him with a well-fllled lunch-basket, saying 

 to him that the contents of the basket might be ac- 

 ceptable to him before he reached home. This 

 little gift, representing her motherly nature, made 

 such an impression upon his mind that even to this 

 day it seems to be one of the pleasantest remem- 

 brances of his first visit to Vermont; and to assure 

 us of that fact, he has, every year since, forwarded 

 us a well-fllled box of choice goods from their large 

 assortment, as a token of his appreciation of that 

 lunch-basket, and his regards for the giver who has 

 since gone to her long home. 



