122 



GLEANINGS IN JiEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 



every thing else but glass, they got twice as much 

 honey as the glass would have cost, besides the fun 

 of the stings, which is legion. After this I want 

 glass, glass, glass, for my honey-cases. 



Coal Vale, Kas. S. C. Fkedeiuck. 



Now, friend F., let me make a suggestion, 

 (iet your price lists in winter, lonj? before 

 you need the goods. Study them very care- 

 fully, then go to your nearest store, and ask 

 how they sell glass. Ask them, also, what 

 they charge for the exact size you want. If 

 the' price named is more thaii the freight 

 from tlie supply-dealer, then order of him ; 

 and I would suggest to supply-dealers that 

 it may be well for them to take some lessons 

 in packing glass. Glass can be T)acked so as 

 to go safely across the United States, but it 

 is not always done.— About the robbing ram- 

 page you had. friend F., next time you get 

 into a scrape like that, if your windows can 

 not be made tight otherwise, tack a sheet 

 or table-cloth up over the window, and put 

 strips of lath around the outside. Fix all 

 other rooms in a similar way. Let the rob- 

 bers out at night, just before dusk, and 1 

 guess it will be a pretty good idea to have 

 each case of honey so secure that it is of 

 itself bee-proof. Sometimes the bees have 

 made pretty bad work on a case of honey 

 dining transportation. 



every article brought into contact was sure to get 

 " stuck up." Of course, the sales were slow, and oft- 

 times required considerable argument to effect one. 

 } I expect to have a considerable quantity of honey 

 , to market this coming season, and have made up 

 [ my mind that, to create a demand for the product, 

 it must be placed on sale in a pregcnttMe condition, 

 i to say the least. ] purpose to make a glass show- 

 j case, of a sufficient height to hold an ample number 

 j of one and two pound sections, tiered to show otf 

 : the contents to the best possible advantage. The 

 [ top of the case can be used for storing up a quanti- 

 1 ty of extracted honey, either in glass jars or tin 

 pails, the whole in summer season to be covered 

 j with mosquito-bar, to protect the labels from flies; 

 I and being placed in a convenient position for secur- 

 [ ing notice, it seems to me that such a method will 

 I command ready sales, and that honey will not go a 

 i begging. L. S. Walker. 



; Vernon Center, N. Y . 



g^eWLEJ^Y. 



HANDLING HONEY. AND PREPARING 

 IT FOR MARKET. 



SKNSIIU.K StTGOESTIONS nv A fJIJOCEKS 

 ILKIIK. 



V " better half " is very much interested in 

 reading Gleaninos, for the many appro- 

 priate suggestions it contain."? in regard to 

 the handling and care of bees. It is cer- 

 tainly of great importance, if one designs 

 to make bee keeping a permanent business, to 

 thoroughly understand all the little details that go 

 to make the venture a paying one; and the season 

 being a favorable one, and an abundant honey crop 

 being secured, comes the last but not least item, 

 how can the product be successfully marketed to 

 the best advantage to both seller and buyer? 



I have recently been employed in a store where a 

 •large amount of butter, honey, eggs, and various 

 other country produce was brought in for sale by 

 the farming community, and I know that the readi- 

 est sales were always effected by those who took 

 extra pains to bring their packages in a neat and 

 tasty condition. A poor quality of butter, if 

 brought in a clean tin pail, nicely stamped and cov- 

 ered with a clean white cloth or napkin, would 

 command a readier sale than a much better quality 

 brought in a rusty pail, eight or ten pounds in a 

 roll, jammed into a pail any way, instead of being 

 laid in with car(>, not stamped, except by finger- 

 print*, a liberal allowance of hair and straws, the 

 whole surmounted by a brown dish-rag for a cover- 

 ing, or something similar. You may think Uiis a 

 strong assertion, but it is solid fart. 



Our grocery department was located in the rear 

 part of the store, and what honey wc took in was 

 there stored on skelves, mostly in two-pound sec- 

 tions. Of course, it dripped; and every little while 

 u wash-basin of water and cloth were called Into re- 

 quisition; the shelves were a bait for the flies, and 



§OMEIIOAV this department of late has 

 been rather laid on the shelf ; and, in 

 fact, 1 iiad almost forgotten the years 

 in which I used to get unkind letters 

 tln-ougli tlie j)re?s and otherwise. The 

 writer of tiie following has. at different 

 times, attacked nie publicly, and called me 

 hyi)ocrite. etc. As nearly "as I can remem- 

 l)ei-. Ills complaint is, tliat 1 refused to i)a\ 

 the return charges on a box of fdn. which 1 

 sent liim, and which he wished to return, 

 loiKj (iflcr (he houri/ .srrf.s'of* iviis tircr. 1 wrote 

 iiim tliat if. on examination, we found tlie 

 j fdn. in our opinion not wliat it ought to be. 

 1 we would return him the money, paying all 

 j charges bolii ways. If tlu^ fdn." was. in our 

 i opinion, faultless^ lie must pay the cliarges 

 1 both ways. On receipt of it I carefully in- 

 ! spected it, and pronounced it fully up to tiie 

 I average we sent out, and therefoie remitted 

 j him what lie paid, less charges. May be 

 our fdn. is not equal to some sent out by 

 j other mainifacturers; and if tiiis admission". 

 I or this letter which we give below, injures 

 i our trade in the commodity, let it be injured. 

 j Here is the letter, written to our postmaster : 



! Postmaster, Medina, Ohio:— 



! .De<(r Sir .-—Will you please be so kind as to inform 

 I me of the whereabouts of one A. I. Root, late of 

 j your city? He owes me a little bill, and has failed 

 : to respond to my requests for a settlement. Per- 

 haps he has left for other parts. Can you tell me 

 j where he may be addressed? 1 believe he has been 

 j a dealer in glucose, and advertised a 3-cent counter. 

 I Please answer on enclosed curd, and oblige yours, 

 j etc., — — Feb. 9, 188.5. 



I am not aware that any letter received 



from the friend above has remained unan- 

 I swered, and 1 can not see that it would be 



right for me to hand over the money in an- 

 I swer to any such demands. I have no ill 

 ! will toward" the writer, and I do not know 

 ' what more I can do than to i)ray that (Jod 

 I may lake away his unkind, unreasonable, 



and bitter spirit. If 1 have not stated the 

 j above correctly, and he wishes to reply in 



a courteous manner, 1 am willing to jjive 

 I him as much svnice here as I have occupied. 



