1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



139 



with the honey. Not a bit of it. I am giving 

 them a more useful package than he is, and 

 fully as cheap in proportion to the size. He 

 says his 4 lb. pail costs from -5 to 7 cts. each, 

 while one-quart Mason jars holding .3 lbs. usu- 

 ally cost here less than 4 cts. each ; and half- 

 gallon jirs about 5 cts. There is no question 

 as to the relative usefulness of the two, in this 

 locality at least, for good self -sealing fruit-jars 

 are always in demand ; but lard pails are not 

 sold except when filled with lard or other 

 shortening, and they are often seen in rubbish- 

 heaps where they have been thrown away. It 

 may be said that some people use square bot- 

 tles that are worthless after the honey is used; 

 but Aikin should turn his gun upon them in- 

 stead of me. Some of his statements I can 

 heartily agree with. He says, "display can 



ixu.Ho'viy iivf-(,- Alp /• 



SHAVE THis u/xurty Ai 

 "^ WILL /IS THB Rich. 



not be ignored," and that "we want the 

 cheapest neat and serviceable package we can 

 get ; " but I would add, consistent with gen- 

 eral utility. In this locality a good self- seal- 

 ing fruit-jar meets this requirement better 

 than a tin pail. 



Some of the statements in Mr. Aikin's arti- 

 cle show what a difference locality may make, 

 even in markets. Two years ago, when we 

 had a good crop, I put up some fine clover 

 honey in half-gallon Mason fruit-j^rs at $6.00 

 a dozen. The grocer sold them at 60 cts. each, 

 and, according to Mr. Aikin's experience, the 

 "common e very-day man" should have 

 bought them ; but, no ; they would buy the 

 little half-pound glasses at double price. The 

 large packages at half the price per pound of 

 the small ones did not " meet the needs of the 

 poor," and were not a " good business propo- 

 sition," for they did not sell well, probably 

 for the same reason that 2-lb. sections do not 

 sell as well as one-pound. 



Mr. Aikin speaks of putting i^p his honey 

 in large packages so that it is a rare thing' for 

 him to sell single pounds. While that may 

 do for him, it is certainly the wrong policy 

 here. Choice honey is regarded as a luxury, 

 and rightly, too ; and after the necessaries are 

 bought, such as flour, sugar, etc., the people 

 want a chance to buy a few cents' worth of 

 some delicacy; and it's not " How much hon- 

 ey can I get ? " but, " How cheap can I get a 

 little? " They don't regard the quantity they 

 are getting as much as the money they are 



paying out. We see the same thing with oth- 

 er things. A grocer could sell but little candy 

 if obliged to sell in -5 or 10 lb. lots. The peo- 

 ple want 5 or 10 cents' worth at a time, and 

 are willing to pay more than pound or five- 

 pound rates for it too. 



And now at the risk of repetition I wish to 

 say that all this talk about cheap honey for 

 the masses, honey at the price of sugar, etc., 

 is a direct blow at the interests of the ho7iey- 

 producers of our land. Choice honey is a lux- 

 ury, and must always remain so, for the rea- 

 son that its flavor comes from the flowers, and 

 must be gathered by the bees, apd can be got 

 in no other way. Of course, I know off 

 grades of honey must be sold cheap, but they 

 should be classed as cooking honey, and not 

 put up for table use at all. 



What in the world does our Col- 

 orado friend mean when he says it 

 would be "more honorable " (put- 

 ting up so it could be sold low)? 

 Does he mean that putting up liq- 

 uid in small packages, making 

 more cost, is thus making it a lux- 

 ury, and that it is less honorable to 

 produce a luxury than a necessity ? 

 If he means that, I'll tell Dr. Mil- 

 ler that Aikin hints that raising 

 and selling comb honey is dishon- 

 orable. And now until I am con- 

 vinced that it is dishonorable to 

 offer a luxury for sale, I shall prob- 

 ably still continue to bottle choice 

 honey in the best style I know 

 how, so as to supply the demand 

 for something that is nice, and looks nice too. 

 But I see by the cartoon on p. 976 the kind 

 of trade that Aikin wants to get; and when 

 he comes to Oberlin with his cheap methods, 

 cheap goods, and cheap prices, he will get 

 the cheap trade, and the Buckeyes will call 

 his store, " Aikin's Honey Racket Store." 

 Oberlin, Ohio. 



THE RELATION OF BEES TO FRUIT. 



Why Some Fruit Bursts Open ; a Valuable Series 

 of Experiments Conducted by the Connec- 

 ticut Board of Agriculture. 



BY H. X,. JEFFREY. 



In Gleanings for Oct. 1 I notice the men- 

 tion of the Utter v. Utter case, and I will give 

 you two or three points brought out by my re- 

 search for our Connecticut Board of Agricul- 

 ture. Because of complaints in Connecticut 

 to the Board of Agriculture about the damage 

 to peaches and grapes by bees in 1881, I was 

 requested to investigate the subject for the 

 benefit of the Board. Not only the damage 

 but the benefits done by the bees was to be 

 looked into with thoroughness, and a report 

 to be given when called for. I have been 

 studying the pros and cons to this day. The 

 work was entered into with a will, with a co- 

 operation on all sides. Mr. J. H. Hale, of 

 South Glastonbury, furnished me with quite a 

 variety of strawberry-plants ; also raspberries, 



