444 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



make a sale, but had returned to us two barrels 

 from Boston, Mass., and one from Richmond, Va., 

 and several more from nearer by. But at last we 

 found a customer for the much-abused horsemlnt 

 honey, and we could have sold several carloads 

 more if we had had it. You would have been sur- 

 prised, Bro. Root, at the fine flavor of honey-cakes 

 made of the horrible (?) horsemint. 



We had once a large customer for the fine man- 

 grove honey of Florida. When the frost nipped the 

 buds, three years ago, and the supply ceased, we 

 lost that trade. Demarara sugar took the place of 

 the mangrove honey, and we have not regained 

 those customers yet. Horsemint eclipsed the man- 

 grove last winter; for most of the mangrove honey 

 purchased last fall was still on our hands two 

 months ago, but is gone now. 



From the above you see that we can't peddle our 

 honey; but we write to our friends, see them oc- 

 casionally, and post them as to different qualities, 

 etc. 



Our home trade is stimulated in a different man- 

 ner. Here we see our friends also, and supply 

 every good customer, wholesale and retail, with a 

 fine sample case, a specimen of which will be ex- 

 pressed to you. It contains a dime jar, a half- 

 pound, pound, and two-pound jar of as fine clover 

 honey as we offer them for sale. In the upper cor- 

 ner of the case stands a one-pound section of comb 

 honey. The sample case is ornamental, and, very 

 naturally, a conspicuous place in the store is as- 

 signed to it. By it our friends and their customers 

 are reminded of us, and we receive their orders by 

 telephone or otherwise, if we fail to see them in 

 time. I will send you a case, empty, for safety's 

 sake. 



We have a large trade for honey in our square 

 glass jars, and I believe that you find our very 

 plain labels in most parts of the country. Our 

 square jars are popular, and I doubt whether we 

 should be blessed with the trade we have, without 

 them. We ordered 1000 gross of jars a few months 

 ago, in order to buy them at old prices, and we ex- 

 pect to have disposed of them, filled with honey, 

 before the beginning of next spring, not to speak 

 of the trade we have in empty jars. 



In the above I had reference to extracted honey 

 only, which is, for us, by far the best trade. There 

 is no breakage in transit, and losses are caused 

 only when shippers are careless in the selection of 

 their cooperage. We have taken, perhaps, more 

 pains than anybody else in the country to introduce 

 "machine-extracted honey." 



Our sales of comb honey during last winter 

 amounted to about 60,000 pounds or more. We re- 

 ceived no full carload at any one time, but many a 

 large shipment of most excellent quality in one 

 and two pound sections, and in large and small 

 shipping-cases. We received, also, our share of 

 dark comb honey; i. e., buckwheat honey from the 

 Northwest, and catnip from Missouri. The latter 

 is not as dark as buckwheat, but it is dark comb 

 honey, which is, with us, a troublesome article, if 

 salable at all. Dealers are to blame for its pro- 

 duction by their misleading quotations, no difl'er- 

 ence whether they were made intentionally or in a 

 thoughtless manner. It makes me smile to see 

 quotations of fancy and of medium buckwheat 

 honey. We verily believe that we have as much 

 opportunity of selling buckwheat comb honey as 

 any one of our Eastern competitors, and we ex- 



pect to sell our share hereafter. But we know that 

 it has been, and will remain, a cause of disappoint- 

 ment to shippers and buyers. One may raise dark 

 honey enough to supply his own home trade; but 

 to raise it for shipping purposes is against his own 

 interests. Money will be lost with almost every 

 shipment, by at least one party, not to speak of the 

 ill feeling created against the one or the other. We 

 have to render into strained honey all dark comb 

 honey on hand for a certain length of time, and 

 after the cases have become soiled— the only thing 

 we can do with it. 



To illustrate my argument, let me give you the 

 following problem: If we pay 5 cents for good 

 dark extracted honey, what should we pay for dark 

 comb honey which we have to render into strained 

 honey? The figure must certainly be unsatisfac- 

 tory to the shipper, if we want to do justice to our- 

 selves. If we should pay him a price fair to both, 

 our friend would accuse us of dishonesty. How- 

 ever, if he had sent us his honey extracted and in 

 barrels, instead of in combs and neat shipping- 

 cases, his product would have been three or four 

 times the amount; and our transaction would have 

 been pleasant and profitable to both parties. None 

 of us would have been subjected to a pecuniary 

 loss, and none would have been accused of being a 

 " sharper." 



Comb honey must be wh te, and sections well 

 filled, when the difference is but small in the sales 

 of one and two pound sections, although the one- 

 pound sections will remain the most popular. We 

 want no one-fourth pound nor one-half pound sec- 

 tions. 



" Shipping-cases " is another item of whiCh I wish 

 to speak. Of the many different sizes we have re- 

 ceived during our existence, small cases, as a rule, 

 have proved to be the most satisfactory. All cases 

 should be glazed, at least on one side. Cases hold- 

 ing 24 one-pound sections answer the purpose. We 

 have had them arrive in two-tier sections Just as 

 safe as in one-tier. But cases holding 13 one-pound 

 sections, as a rule, arrive safer and sell faster; and, 

 if damaged in transit, the lot can be straightened 

 up easier. Such is our experience. These small 

 cases can be made of H-inch stuff, and should not 

 cost above 10 or 12!^ cents apiece, including glass. 



My article has become longer than I expected; 

 but other business does not allow me much time, 

 otherwise we should perhaps write shorter letters 

 and oftener. Chas. F. Moth. 



Cincinnati, O., May. 1890. 



Friend M., I am exceedingly glad to get 

 the above paper from you. It always gives 

 me pain when I hear folks uttering whole- 

 sale condemnation and complaint against 

 any class of people — that is, people who are 

 engaged in an honorable employment. We 

 have had some experience in selling honey 

 by the carload, but not very much, however, 

 compared to what you have had. But we 

 can fully understand that it requires a man 

 with special ability, and that it is a trade of 

 itself. I congratulate you on the success 

 you have made in introducing honey from 

 special localities. We have had trouble with 

 buckwheat honey, similar to yours. Quite 

 a lot of it is now burdening our shelves. 

 Yesterday the bees made their way in, evi- 

 dently thinking that, if nobody else wanted 

 it, they could dispose of it to good advan- 

 tage. Oar wagon is offering it at 10 cents a 



