1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



93 



aught I could see. &re fully equal to our own grow- 

 ing-. I intend, when I write on any subject, to be 

 accurate, and keep myself posted; but it was this 

 very writing- that unearthed the existence of that 

 French colony away out on^the Pacific coast, quiet- 

 ly growing their teasels and supplying their neigh- 

 boring mills. 11 the quality is good in Oregon and 

 here, I believe there are many other places, when 

 found, that will prove to be adapted to the growing 

 of this crop. I had also supposed that the expense 

 of shipping and then reshipping would be too great 

 to warrant any one in raising them if they were 

 far from a market. What I mean by a market is 

 a middle-man, or dealer. 



Now, you will ask me why the grower can not 

 ship direct to the factories. We will suppose that 

 the first factoiy that saw fit to order of you made 

 a specialty of woolen blankets. Of course, for 

 that coarse work they would want "kings," and 

 you would not have enough in your whole crop, of 

 the right size to fill their first order; and your next 

 sale would be as likely to be kings as any thing. 

 Without carrying this comparison further, you can 

 seethat.inordertodealdirect, one must carry a stock 

 of a good many thousand dollars' worth; and, fur- 

 ther, the handling, sorting, and packing, is a trade of 

 itself. But if our dealers at present prices (6 cts. 

 per lb.) can pay freight from Oregon, and then 

 compete with us, I think some of my good bee- 

 friends haii better look into the matter. 



T will answer any question through Gleanings 

 that its editor may see fit to ask, but I can not un- 

 dertake to answer by private letter. 



Thorn Hill, Onon. Co., N. Y. C. M. Goodspeed. 



THE NON-USE OF FOUNDATION. 



I.'KPOKT tROM W. Z. HUTCHINSON'S OWN 

 NEIGHBORHOOD. 



tPrER reading the articles on the non-use of 

 foundation which have appeared from time 

 to time in the bee-papers, I think the " oth- 

 er side " should have the benefit of the 

 following: 



Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson has a neighbor, Mr. C. D. 

 Doane, living about two miles distant. In the 

 spring of 1886, Mr. Doane purchased 350 of Mr. 

 Hutchinson's discarded combs. That season Mr. 

 Doane produced 6.500 lbs. of honey from 50 colonies, 

 spring count— an average of 130 lbs. per colony. If 

 1 am not mistaken, Mr. Hutchinson had 6700 lbs. of 

 honey from .5.5 colonies, spring count — an average 

 of 121 9-11 pounds per colony. At the close of the 

 Season, Mr. Doane's bees had an average amount 

 of .SO lbs. of honey— natural stores— to winter upon, 

 while Mr. Hutchinson's bees had to be fed sugar 

 syrup. Mr. Doane attributes his larger honey 

 product to the combs purchased from Mr. Hutch- 

 inson. Mr. Doane's bees increased to 125 colonies. 

 Mr. Hutchinson's increase 1 do not know. 1 think 

 the amount of increase would be likely to affect 

 the general result somewhat. 



I have Mr. Doane's figures from that gentleman 

 himself, but am not so fortunate with those of Mr. 

 Hutchinson, but I think them correct. 



Flint, Mich., Jan. 17, 1S87. M. S. West. 



We are very much obliged indeed, friend 

 W., for your "communication, for it proves 

 this if nothing more : That friend Hutchin- 

 son has an exceedingly good locality— or, at 



least, it has proved so during the season 

 that is past. If Mr. Doane increased .50 col- 

 onies to 125, and secured over 130 lbs. per 

 colony, he certainly did exceedingly well. 



PEDDLING HONEY. 



FRIEND COLTON RELATES HIS EXPERIENCE. 



XIl is very pleasant and agreeable to me to read 

 /^ the reports of those who have been successful 

 ^l in marketing their honey. I have not yet read 

 ■*■ a report of a failure in peddling honey. This 

 strikes me as somewhat remarkable, as my 

 experience has been quite different from that of 

 those who have reported their success in Glean- 

 ings. Evidently, those who found peddling honey 

 a poor business thought their report would not tend 

 to the " encouragement of bee culture." There is a 

 short time after our busiest time with the bees is 

 over, and before cold weather has caught us, that 

 we can profitably market honey as peddlers. We 

 can then draw It off from a barrel without the 

 necessity of charging our customers for a tin pail 

 or jar, which, when added to a small purchase, 

 raises the price above the price of comb honey. 

 If you peddle near home you can call for your 

 pails after the honey is used ; but peddling near 

 home will not suit the grocerymen who are selling 

 your honey. 



A bee-keeper from a town near me told me he 

 had disposed of about 7000 lbs. of extracted honey 

 by peddling it out at 9 and even 8 cts. per pound. 

 He had canvassed, I think he said, nearly every 

 town within one hundred miles of home. In many 

 towns, bee-keepers are trying to keep the price of 

 honey up to something above the cost of produc- 

 tion ; and when the honey-peddler strikes a town 

 where he can undersell those engaged in the pro- 

 duction of honey, his sales are apt to be quite sat- 

 isfactory. Somehow I can't get very happy and 

 enthusiastic over the honey-peddling scheme. Few 

 beekeepers will make themselves so notoriously 

 honest, and their honey so perfect, as to be above 

 suspicion for any great distance from home. 

 Brother Root, we do not all have the faculty and 

 experience in advertising that you have, even if 

 we controlled a publication like Gleanings, which 

 circulates to a certain extent through all our States 

 and Territories. I rigged out a wagon for peddling, 

 and spent about a week at the business. I aver- 

 aged a sale of about fifty pounds per day. When I 

 could not sell a pail, 1 dug out, of a large can, gran- 

 ulated honey, but, of course, found this tedious, 

 as cold weather was gradually setting in. I intend 

 to rig up a sleigh of some kind and continue the 

 fight, even if it takes all winter, and I have no 

 doubt it will. There is no other way left for me to 

 dispose of my crop of honey. I tried, in the latter 

 part of last winter, to get something out- of what 

 honey I could not sell at home, by sending it to St. 

 Louis, to be sold by a commission merchant. I re- 

 alized for the honey, after deducting cost of pails, 

 freight, and all charges, a trifle over two cents per 

 pound. Said honey was weD-ripened clover and 

 basswood, but a portion was produced the year 

 before, and kept over, as I could not get rid of it. 

 I got honey in all of the stores near home I could, 

 and they offered it at ten cents per pound. I hope 

 you will publish this, and some one who has had 

 more experience than myself in peddling honey 



