November, 1910. 



i^American Hee Journal | 



filled with buckwheat honey. Worst 

 of all, was the nasty work of the lesser 

 wax-moth, whose webs were plainly in 

 evidence on a number of the sections. 

 While surprised that any bee-keeper 

 would ship such stuff to a city market, 

 we were equally surprised to find that 

 a firm with a continental reputation 

 would tolerate such samples of honey 

 on their counters. That such a state 

 of affairs would exist in any other 

 branch of their business, is hardly to 

 be thought of, and it certainly shows 

 that the honey-business has not re- 

 ceived the same attention and study by 

 them as has the other lines referred to. 



Then, again, the extracted honey 

 was anything but nicely arranged, and 

 a number of jars of very poor samples 

 were in evidence. Only a few hours 

 before we had been in a few of the 

 wholesale houses that handle honey, 

 and each place had quantities of the 

 finest honey to be found. This fact 

 again seems to substantiate the idea 

 advanced, that the large stores as yet 

 have not reduced the honey-buying 

 part of their business to the science 

 that it really has in other lines, and 

 this state of affairs certainly is not con- 

 ducive to the interests of the bee-keep- 

 ers as a body. 



As a rule, the smaller stores have 

 much finer displays of honey than 

 have the large concerns; why this is 

 the case is hard to explain, but certain 

 it is that a little education along this 

 line would not hurt the business of the 

 large stores, and at the same time an 

 absence of such stuff as we have de- 

 scribed from the counters of these 

 places, would be a decided advantage 

 to the bee-keeping fraternity. 



The Perforated-Top Tin-Pail for Feeding 

 Bees 



While the crop of buckwheat honey, 

 in the main, has been lighter than last 

 season, all reports received from bee- 

 keepers in buckwheat localities go to 

 show that the hives are heavier than 

 usual after having the supers taken ofT, 

 and as a natural result the feeding bills 

 will not be heavy. In my own case, 

 comparatively little sugar has been fed, 

 and with the pleasant weather of the 

 past two weeks, what feeding that was 

 necessary was done up in short order. 



After using nearly all kinds of feed- 

 ers in the past, just now I have an idea 

 that the Kl-pound pails with perforated 

 top is about the best all-around feeder 

 that can be used. They are cheap, 

 easily obtained by any one. and can be 

 used on any style of hive with no dan- 

 ger of robbing. Then, again, the bees 

 will take the food from them in any 

 kind of weather, as the inverted pail 

 can be placed on the frames right over 

 the cluster. I have a number of Miller 

 and other kinds of feeders, but from 

 my present preference, all feeders for 

 the future will be the simple pails. 

 While they will not hold as much as 

 the Miller feeder, yet this can be reme- 

 died by getting larger pails, if neces- 

 sary, as one firm of manufacturers 

 make a pail with a self-sealing cover 

 that will hold 20 pounds. 



While the principle of these feeders 

 is not new, being used in the old pep- 

 per-box feeder, yet it is only of recent 

 date that the attention was called to 



the idea of using the pails in the same 

 way. Just who the originator of the 

 idea was I am not quite certain without 

 referring to back numbers of the Cana- 

 dian Bee Journal, but if not mistaken 

 the credit belongs to Mr. Ross, of 



Montreal. Whoever the chap was, I 

 for one feel like tendering him a vote 

 of thanks for the simple little kink 

 that is such a source of comfort and 

 convenience in the matter of doing any 

 necessary feeding. 



Southern Beedom 



Conducted by Louis H. Scholl, New Braunfels, Tex. 



Marketing Bulk-Comb Honey 



Last month 1 liad something to say 

 about the way bulk comb honey is 

 packed for the market. It is my desire 

 to tell in a few words something about 

 marketing bulk-comb honey, or any 

 other kind for that matter. ' We must 

 have a market for what we produce, no 

 matter what it is, to make the most out 

 of our vocation. And we know of 

 nothing better than constant advertis- 

 ing, constant pushing of our product, 

 and putting it before the people in 

 such a way that it will be an advertise- 

 ment itself whenever the product 

 reaches the consumer, who is our best 

 customer. 



Bearing this in mind since I began 

 my bee-keeping 20 years ago. and keep- 

 ing at this very thing all through this 

 long period of time, it has been no 

 trouble to work up a market for all the 

 bulk-comb honey that I can produce 

 with 1100 colonies of bees; yea, and 

 the demand is many times over my 

 supply eacli year, amounting to several 

 car-loads that I can not supply after I 

 have disposed of my entire output. 



Not only have I each year increased 

 the demand for my honey, practically 

 more than doubling my output each 

 year, but I have constantly striven to 

 raise the price in accordance with other 

 products, as far as that has been in my 

 power. The only, yes, I say //«■ onfy 

 drawback in this respect that I have 

 experienced, is the fact that nearly the 

 entire bee-keeping fraternity is to 

 blame that the prices are not a cent or 

 two per pound higher than what is ob- 

 tained for the honey crop at the pres- 

 ent time. In other words, if it were 

 not for the fact that the majority of 

 the bee-keepers set the ruling price 

 just so much too low, so that the others 

 will have to follow tlieir example to be 

 able to sell their honey, the prices of 

 our honey would be at least a cent to 

 two cents per pound more than they 

 have been all tlirough the season. 



Now, how do 1 know this ? Simply 

 from the fact that I can continue to sell 

 my own honey for from a cent to two 

 cents per pound above the regular 

 prices reigning until some of the bee- 

 keepers intrude upon my territory and 

 sell for less than I do. I have had this 

 experience time and again. After sell- 

 ing for months to jiersons who make 

 repeated orders, I finally receive a let- 

 ter stating that Mr. So-and-So has 

 come into the market offering his 

 honey at so much less, and why am I 

 so farout of line of the regular market 

 price? The general wind-up, however, 

 I am proud to state, is something like 

 this in most of the cases: 



"We are not objecting to your price, 

 as we are exceedingly well pleased with 

 your honey, but if you can meet the 

 prices quoted by the other parties we 

 would like to have you do so. We are 

 sending you another order herewith 

 for so many more cases, etc." Or, " We 

 note that honey is quoted at so much 

 per pound by So-and-So, making your 

 price aljout 2 cents out of line. We do 

 not object to your price, considering 

 your goods, but if you can make us a 

 better price we would appreciate it; 

 however, we would prefer to have your 

 honey because we know what we are 

 getting, even if we have to meet your 

 price." 



I have more than a dozen letters that 

 end in a like manner. In one way it 

 shows what an advertisement it is for 

 me to put out a good class of goods, 

 hut t/ie main point I wish to bring out 

 is, that this goes to show that if the bee- 

 keepers would keep to together with 

 the price of honey, they could get more 

 for their crop. What does it profit the 

 bee-keeper, after he has worked hard 

 the entire year producing a good crop 

 of fine honey, to rush it ofl^ to market 

 at a low price, just to get ahead of the 

 other fellow in disposing of it? 



In my extensive work I have found 

 that it is not such a hard proposition 

 to produce a large crop of honey and 

 then dispose of it systematically and 

 get good returns therefrom, as it has 

 been made to appear, if we may judge 

 from the numerous articles that have 

 appeared in the bee-papers from time 

 to time. But it may be that much de- 

 pends upon the man. I have for sev- 

 eral years received a better average 

 price for my large crops of honev than 

 the majority of producers here in the 

 South, I have kept ahead of the ma- 

 jority from one to 2 cents per pound 

 for a number of years. This amounts 

 to quite a little sum or profit that would 

 otherwise have gone to waste, practi- 

 cally, had I sold my honey cheaper. If 

 we only figure this small amount extra, 

 or above the regular prices on a large 

 crop of 3 or 4 tons, it amounts to just 

 a few hundred dollars a year more on 

 the crop. Is not that worth thinking 

 about ? 



There are several things that should 

 be considered when it is desired to sell 

 honey at a good price. AuKuig the 

 first is that of going out into new fields 

 where honey has not been sold before, 

 and in this way many places are to be 

 found where honey has not been used 

 by the people residing in those com- 

 munities. .After such a market is found, 

 and the right kind of goods are deliv- 

 ered, it is no trouble at all to maintain 



