330 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



One of our very best authorities on 

 migratory bee keeping is A. F. Brown of 

 Florida. He contributes a very meaty 

 article to A. B. J. 705. If I get the cor- 

 rect idea his bee keeping is wholly migra- 

 tory — three or four locations every year. 

 Most of his moves are for distances of 

 from 50 to 150 miles. The number of 

 colonies involved are from 150 to 250. He 

 prefers the railroads to water transporta- 

 tion, notv,dthstanding the latter disturbs 

 the bees so much less, because they get 

 there and done with it so much quicker. 

 Prime point is to get the bees released at 

 the earliest possible moment. He finds 

 three days bumping and racket on a rail 

 car does less harm than six days quiet 

 confinement on a barge. Three or four 

 days can be endured in the very hottest 

 weather, if they are prepared to the best 

 advantage— that is to say, with superabun- 

 dant ventilation, and room to cluster away 

 from the combs if they w^ant to. Wagon 

 transportation does well for 25 miles and 

 under. As might be expected his success 

 at first was not complete. First bad loss- 

 es were from the unsealed brood dying. 

 Two combs filled with ziw/.;'/* (of which 

 the\- will hold about two quarts) mended 

 that. What he considers effective venti- 

 lation is a three inch rim bearing a wire 

 screen on the top— and another such rim 

 on the bottom. And effective fastening 

 is a suitable length of lath nailed to each 

 corner. Hoffman frame. Extracting su- 

 pers and frames may be on, but not sec- 

 tions, as they would get stained, .\void 

 having newly set foundation within, as it 

 will get pulled loose. Over 250 colonies 

 can be carried on a car — inch strips nail- 

 ed on bottom to let air under, and ven- 

 tilators and doors all open. If possible 

 get a cattle car. that air may come in on 

 all sides. Order and neatness can Ije had 

 to some extent in a migratory apiary, but 

 he admits that his usually looks as if the 

 hives had been .shot into place b\- a can- 

 non. Thinks the migratory man has no 

 business with comb honey, but should 

 confine him.self to extracted. 

 Richards, Ohio. Dec. 7, 1S97. 



SELLING HOXEV DIRECT TO GROCERS. 



Also how to Boom its Sale in a Grocery Store. 

 GradiiiiH l»y Piiotoiiraphy. 



•' Bat times are alter'd; trade's unfeeling train 

 Usurp the land, and dispossess the swain." 



GOLDSMITH. 



As soon as we have a good crop of hon- 

 ey the selling of it becomes the greatest 

 factor in the problem, and Gleanings for 

 Dec. I, has two most excellent articles 

 upon this particular part of the problem. - 



The first article is by Mr. A. B. Weed, 

 a brother of Mr. p:. B. Weed of 

 fleep-cell foundation fame, and treats 

 of a novel method of selling large quan- 

 tities of honey at retail from a grocery 

 store, and is nothing less than making an 

 exhibit, not only of his honey but of bees 

 in obser\'atory hives, showing an extract- 

 or and other implements, and explain- 

 ing their uses to the crowd that is cer- 

 tain to gather. If the crowd is a little slow 

 in buying, .strips of stiff paper are cur^^ed 

 into something like spoons and the vi.si- 

 tors invited to sample the honey. Mr. 

 Weed made the experiment at Akron, a 

 city of 40,000 inhabitants, about twenty 

 miles from Medina, and in a week's time 

 had sold at retail nearly all of the moun- 

 tain sage honey that Mr. Root had on 

 hand, besides nearly all of their odds and 

 ends. I have not a particle of doubt that 

 large quantities of honey could be sold in 

 this way. 



This article treats of the retailing of 

 honey, and the one following it takes up 

 the subject of selling direct to grocers 

 instead of .sending honey to connnission 

 men. It is written in a most interest- 

 style l>y Mr. S. A. Niver of Groton. N. 

 Y. I have not room to copy the whole 

 of it, but give the last half of it. 



" Our localitv is about 300 miles from 

 New York, with a dozen ^ or more cities 

 and towns between . What nonsense and 

 waste to send our honey to the big city, 

 ])av freight, drayage, connnissions, ex- 

 change stealings' (?) drmnniers' wages 

 and expenses, to come half way back and 

 sell that same honey to the grocer!— more 



