I \NUARY 1, 1915 



Beekeeping Among the Mockie: 



With the winter setting- in early 

 in the east and central States, it 

 lias been the opposite here in the 

 West. We had no snow or cold 

 weather to speak of until early in 

 December. Bees have had a favor- 

 able season so far; and with a fair 



(jiiality of stores there should not be much 



loss in wintering. 



• • « 



With the postoffice otTicials givinu' orders 

 for more care in handling packages it may 

 not be long until honey may be sent safely 

 by parcel post. I was told by one of our 

 postoflice clerks that honey is a liquid Avhile 

 egg-s are not. This being the postoffice 

 rnling, he would not accept honey for ship- 

 ment by parcel post unless there was absorb- 

 ent wrajiping enough aronnd the package 

 to absorb all the honey in case the package 

 should be broken and the honey leak out. 

 1 think that, with the effort the Postoffice 

 Department is making to extend parcel post, 

 a few more disastrous leaks of honey will 

 have as beneficial an effect on handling 

 parcel-post matter as it will detrimental. 

 Until the department Avill accept and carry 

 the same class of jiackage goods as the 

 express comi:)anies it will not fulfill its 



rightful sphere. 



» • « 



WHAT TO DO WITH COMB HONEY. 



I have had some discussion with beekeep- 

 ers as to the advisability of selling cull 

 honey on the market at all. Some take the 

 jiosition that this honey should be fed back 

 to the bees or rendeied. Cull comb honey 

 weighs about 16 pounds net to the 24-sectiou 

 case, and sells locally at $1.75 to $2.00 a 

 case. It retails for 10 cents a section, or 

 three for 25 cents. There is no doubt that 

 it tends to lower the jirice of the higher 

 grades. On the other hand, there ai'e a 

 great many people who will buy this honey 

 when they would go without if they had to 

 pay 15 to 20 cents for a section. There is 

 an increasing amount of fruit being sold in 

 bulk. Peaches are being sold in bushel 

 baskets instead of small baskets and boxes, 

 and it is l)ecau.se they are cheaper. The 

 expensivi' nu'thods of packing and market- 

 ing jirodiice do not appeal to all buyers. 

 Having (111 hand about ."ij supers of unfin- 



-1:ed comb honey weighing about 10 lbs. 

 ; to the case (deducting the weight of 



111' spclioii), T started selling it locally by 

 i\ eight at 10 ci.s. a pound, and it is the best 



• fome again " trade-getter that T have seen 



esley Foster, Boulder, Colorado. 



for some time. It can be carried home 

 either in the sections, or broken out of the 

 sections and carried home in a pail. 



* » * 



STAMnXG THE WEIGHTS ON COMB HONEY. 



The point raised by Mr. Burnett, page 

 022, Dec. 1, regarding incorrect stamping of 

 the weight on sections of honey, is a good 

 one. In Colorado we have been packing 

 our honey in three grades, with a minimum 

 weight for each grade. When we have a 

 section of honey that will not gi'ade more 

 than No. 2 on account of a few unsealed 

 cells the weight is stamped " Net weight not 

 less than 10 ounces." This section in many 

 cases may weigh 12, 13, or 14 ounces net. 

 All the sections in a case are stamped the 

 same net weight, but they may not weigh 

 the same, although the most careful packers 

 keep sections of uniform weight together in 

 a case. A heavy-weight case of No. 2 comb 

 honey may weigh 15 or 16 ounces net 

 weight; but if it is No. 2 on account of 

 finish or color, each section is stamped "Net 

 weiglit not less than 10 ounces." This 

 statement on the section may be true; but 

 it is not accurate, and does not help the 

 sale of the honey. 



The rubber stamps that the writer has 

 seen do not have the lettering of the net- 

 weight minimum large enough; and instead 

 of printing it this way, " Net weight not 

 less than 12l^ oz.," it should be printed this 

 way : " Net weight not less than twelve and 

 one-half ounces." I would think further 

 that the half-ounce weight should be dis- 

 continued, and onlj^ even-ounce weights 

 used. 



With a good set of rubber stamps with 

 tlie lettering large enough it is not difficult 

 to do rapid and neat stamping. It is not a 

 difficult matter to get the stamp printing 

 straight across the top of the section, but 1 

 have seen a lot of twisted work done. 



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Continued jrom previous page 



local dues without question, but in failing 

 to stay with the National. There is no class 

 of ])roducers in our land who are as timid 

 about ]iayiiig out a little money for organi- 

 zation and advertising as the beekeeping. 

 The difference in tiie amount of cash that 

 comes into our hands marketing our prod- 

 uce as we do. from what it would be with 

 constant and judicial advertising, is so 

 great that we would be aslonislicfl at the 

 results of advertising. 



