C68 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



of the folders, " The Food A^alue of Hon- 

 ey.'" Using them as business cards I had 

 stamped on the back of each, with a rubber 

 stamp, mjf name and address. These I 

 would give to each one that bought honey, 

 and to others v;here I thought best. 



]n using this plan, be sure to have bright, 

 clearly marked bees, and a bright young- 

 queen. It is best to have a small amount of 

 brood in the frame, and let it be a frame 

 that bclong"s to them. 



Make sure there is plenty of ventilation 

 at each end of the case, as this will help to 

 keep them contented on hot days more than 

 anything else. My case is built for a shal- 

 low extracting- frame 5% inches deep, which 

 i find is about right to cany, and can be 

 handled easily. The bees will stand several 

 days' contineuient if they are young, have 

 sutlicient ventilation, and some honey to eat, 



I use several shallow eight-frame extract- 

 ing-snpers as a nucleus to draw these frames 

 from, Iceeping good young queens in them. 

 I do not can-y the same queen with me 

 eveJT time, but give them a rest. By main- 

 taining a nucleus one is able to find the 

 frame best suited for canning in this way, 

 and have a chance at getting young bees. 

 If the nuclei get too strong, give some of 

 tlieir bees to a weaker colony. 



In going around with the bees, be sure to 

 interest tiie '::hildren all you can, letting 

 them look at the bees and taste the honey. 

 Ijeavo a sample where it would appear to 

 good advantage. Samples will often sell 

 some of your honey easier than you can 

 yourself. 



You sliould be well posted on bees, and 

 be able to answer a great many questions 

 that will be asked. The average person 

 knows very little about them, and will ask 

 some questions that will be hard to answer 

 in a way they can understand. 



One of the most common (juestions asked 

 was this: " How did you get the bees in the 

 box ? " Many of them had very queer ideas 

 as to liow this could be done. Many ques- 

 tions were asked about the queen, and what 

 she did in the hive. Some would have the 

 idea tliat she is absolute ruler, and would 

 make the remark on seeing her the first 

 time, " Doesn't she make them stand 

 ai'ound ? " jMuch surprise Avould be ex- 

 pre„ssed when they Avere told that she does 

 not rule the hive, but is its mother; that she 

 will at times lay more than two thousaiul 

 eggs in a day, and that she is the only bee 

 that lives twelve months or more. 



Shellman, Ga, 



THE FACTOR OF CLEANLINESS IN HONEY DISTRIBUTION 



BY JOHN W. LOVE 



Whenever a housewife in Naples wants a 

 morning quart of milk for the bambino all 

 she has to do is to waylay the milkman as 

 he drives his fiock of goats through the 

 naiTow streets. The proprietor of the dairy 

 milks the goat, shooting the fluid into any 

 bucket or bottle the customer happens to 

 liaA-e with her. The only merit in this sys- 

 tem is its cheapness. 



It is a long way from the simplicity of 

 ilie Nea]>olilaji goatherd to the business 

 acumen of the distributor of a trade-marked 

 milk who buys from scores of dairy farm- 

 ci-s, maintains a dozen condensaries, adver- 

 tises in national magazines, and hands his 

 product to you in a labeled can vrhich is 

 attractiveness itself. 



Tlie one calls at you from the street, the 

 other buys magazine si)ace to show pictures 

 of " contented oows." You drop a few 

 centesimi to the Italian for a quantity of 

 railk you both guess at. The other milk 

 comes at flfteen cents a can, always the 

 same amount, about enough to make a quart 

 ^vhen thinned. In these and other differ- 

 ences lies much of interest, some points of 



which may be applicable to the business of 

 selling hone}-. 



One of the I'easons for the eagerness with 

 which the public has taken up the trade- 

 marked crackers in preference to those 

 Ecooped out of baiTels is the superior clean- 

 liness of the article put up in iiaekages. 

 The progress toward ultra neatness is part 

 of that greater movement in sanitation 

 which, during the last century, has taken 

 the terror from mauA^ diseases and eutirely 

 extinguished a number of them. It is part 

 of the same movement which has cut down 

 infant mortality and boosted the avei'age 

 expectation of life. Absolute cleanliness is 

 built into the new civilization. Those who 

 fail to come up to its standard are tiiuling 

 themselves left witli the reactionaries and 

 forced out of business. 



It is true that honey is now seldom sold 

 in bulk, like vinegai- or cider. Only in lo- 

 calities does ont: still find a beekeeper ped- 

 dlijig in open buckets. Indeed, the beekeep- 

 er, feeling the dignity of his profession, is 

 drojtping the word " peddling '' from his 

 vocabiilaiy. But bottles and cans of honey 



