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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1 



bees have produced the honey, and he should 

 see that it brings all that it is worth, by prop- 

 erly marketing it. It requires experience and 

 skill to produce a gilt-edged article of honey, 

 and it requires business tact to market it, and, 

 of course, experience too. I wonder why 

 some easy-going, slipshod bee-keeper doesn't 

 breed a bee that will market his honey for 

 him. 



The most important item in marketing any 

 thing is to have a good article, and have it put 

 up in as attractive a shape as possible. My 

 experience has been that a fancy grade of hon- 

 ey — yes, and an ordinary grade too — will sell 

 itself. When a customer, either retail or 

 wholesale, learns that he can depend on your 

 honey as always being first-class, you can rest 

 assured that he will continue his patronage, 

 and he will pay you the right price too. If 

 he tries to cut the price, let him know that 

 you are independent, and that your honey 

 will sell anywhere, and that others will be 

 glad to get it. When he learns that you give 

 him his money's worth, and that he gets just 

 what he pays for, he will gladly buy of you. 



Let us suppose we have secured a crop of 

 comb honey. I will tell how I prepare it for 

 market. 



As soon as the honey is taken from the hive 

 I fumigate it. I use carbon bisulphide, as sul- 

 phur is apt to discolor the comb, and, if too 

 strong, leaves a disagreeable odor. For a fu- 

 migating-box I use a large ice-box or refriger- 

 ator, which is lined with zinc and is practical- 

 ly air-tight, except that it has ventilating-holes 

 at top and bottom. When supers are well fill- 

 ed I place them bodily, as they come from 

 the hive, into the bottom part of the fumigat- 

 ing-box, in such a manner as to allow the free 

 circulation of the fumes about and through 

 them. If the supers are not entirely filled, I 

 of course place only the finished sections in 

 the fumigating-box. I then place an open 

 vessel, filled with bisulphide of carbon, in the 

 top part of the refrigerator, and close the door. 

 The fumes settle and circulate around the hon- 

 ey. It takes about an hour for the fumes to 

 fill entirely the large fumigating-box. As 

 soon as they have, I close the ventilating- 

 holes, thus stopping all drafts, and let the 

 whole thing alone till morning, or for a period 

 of from eight to ten hours. After this time 

 every vestige of a moth worm or egg will have 

 been destroyed. I then remove the vessel of 

 carbon bisulphide and open the ventilators, 

 and, as soon as all fumes have passed off, the 

 honey is ready to be removed. 



The honey is then stored in a warm room 

 on shelves, and allowed to sweat. The room 

 should have screen doors and windows, which 

 should be opened to allow a free circulation 

 of air. 



Next the sections are scraped, all propolis 

 and stains being removed. As the sections 

 are cleaned the honey is graded. I use three 

 grades. Then it is put into 24-lb. single-tier 

 non-drip shipping-cases with glass on one side. 

 It doesn't pay to " face " the crates. Put sec- 

 tions next to the glass that are a fair sample 

 of the rest of the honey in the whole crate. 

 I have bought honey, as well as produced it. 



Nothing is more aggravating than to buy hon- 

 ey at a fancy price, and find "gilt-edge" sec- 

 tions next to the glass, while the remainder 

 of the case is second or third grade. It pays 

 to be honest. The man who practices fraud 

 and deception, in the long run cheats himself. 

 When a small boy I raised a crop of pickle 

 cucumbers. When they were ready for mar- 

 ket I put them in bushel baskets, and I faced 

 them too. I put all the little ones in the bot- 

 tom, and the great big " stunners " on top. I 

 drove to market, and was already counting 

 the money I should receive for them. But 

 the first grocer I showed my cucumbers to 

 laughed, and said he could not use such large 

 cucumbers. " No one wants large cucumbers 

 for pickling — they want the little ones.^' I 

 saw my mistake, and confessed that the bas- 

 kets were "faced." We emptied them, and 

 he bought all the small ones, and I took the 

 big ones back home. There were not very 

 many big ones. 



This experience made a lasting impression. 

 When I buy honey I don't want it faced. 

 When I sell, I don't face it. 



After the honey is crated I put a label on 

 each case, stating grade, net weight, gross 

 weight, and number of sections in case. 



Being near my market I take a sample sec- 

 tion of each grade and call on my customers 

 or any dealers to whom I wish to sell. I show 

 my goods and ask them if they wish to pur- 

 chase. If they are not handling honey, and 

 are in doubt as to whether they want to do so, 

 I propose that they let me bring them a case 

 on trial, and, in nine times out of ten, when I 

 see them again they want more. I then sell 

 for cash. I always sell my own crop, and 

 then buy to supply the trade. 



Last season I called on one of my old cus- 

 tomers. He is a close man, and always wants 

 to drive a close bargain. I asked him 13 cts. 

 for my honey. He said the honey was all 

 right, but the price was too high. I told him 

 that the honey crop all over the country was 

 short, and that my price was really cheap. 

 He said, "Why, I can get all the honey I 

 want at 10 cts., and it is fancy too." 



I told him I should like to buy it at that, 

 and that, if he could do so, he ought to get 

 all he could at that price. I did not make 

 any further effort to sell to him. In about six 

 weeks he sent word that he would like to see 

 me. I called at his store. 



"Mr. Walker," he said, "what is honey 

 worth? " 



"A fancy article is worth 15 cts." was my 

 answer. 



" I will take 2000 lbs. at that price." 



"I don't know where you will get it. I 

 have sold all of mine, and should like to buy 

 some myself," was my response. 



Oh ! but it did me good to tell him this. I 

 asked him why he did not buy the lO-cent 

 honey he had spoken of. He said, " Well, I 

 didn't know the man who offered it to me ; 

 and as the price was so low I feared it would 

 not be good." 



Now he pays me my price, and is glad to 

 buy of me. 



New Albany, Ind. 



