1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



591 



BEE-KEEPING AMONG 



THE ROCKIES. 



By Wesley Foster, Boulder, Col. 



SCALES for weighing SECTIONS. 



A scale registering from half an ounce to 

 two pounds is necessary in grading honey 

 properly. Every section need not be weigh- 

 ed; but all doubtful ones should be. One 

 will soon get to be accurate in judging the 

 weight of combs of honey with a little prac- 

 tice. An aid in quickly finding out the cor- 

 rect weight of the sections is to paint an ar- 

 row on the scale at the 13>2-ounce mark; 

 and, if there is room, one at 12 oz. Then 

 any sections not coming up in weight to the 

 highest arrow must go in the No 2 grade; 

 and any not weighing 12 oz., put in with culls. 



A scale with a tin scoop can be had for 

 $1.35, and one of brass, nickel-plated, for 

 $1.50 to $2.00. These scales are very handy 

 about the house in weighing out recipes, 

 spices, etc. 



■^ 



SELLING CULLS AS CHUNK HONEY. 



Unfinished and light-weight combs are 

 often hard to realize on to tneir full value. 

 If melted down, no more can be had for 

 culls than extracted, and hardly as much 

 unless it is rendered very carefully. 



One way to sell such combs easily is to 

 provide the grocer with a glass pickle-jar, if 

 he has none empty, and cut the combs out, 

 fitting them in so the comb will show nice- 

 ly through the glass. The grocer can sell 

 by weight, and put the honey in oyster-pails 

 for the customer. If the combs are not too 

 much unfinished, three will weigh about 

 two pounds. Honey in this shape is attract- 

 ive; and, though not so desirable as honey 

 in the sections, it is eagerly sought. It can 

 be sold for somewhat less than the regular 

 section-box goods. 



HOW AN ISOLATED BEE-KEEPER MAY MAR- 

 KET HIS HONEY. 



The honey-producing sections of the West 

 are so isolated from each other that any co- 

 operative ventures in buying and selling are 

 not successful unless there are bee-men in 

 each locality to make carload shipments. 



The only means available for the producer 

 who is isolated from other bee-men is to sell 

 his product at the home markets or ship it 

 to some honey association Where the fruit- 

 growers have stores and warehouses they 

 often sell honey for their members, ship- 

 ping it with fruit to the large cities. If I did 

 not nave confidence in the honesty and ex- 



Eerience of the fruit-association manager in 

 andling honey I would market it myself. 

 The most economical method is through a 

 honey association honestly and efficiently 

 managed. 



FOLDING SECTIONS SQUARE. 

 One cause of sections not being square is 

 that the grooves may not be cut exactly true. 

 If cut too wide the section will wobble and 



be weak. If cut too close the section will 

 bow out when folded. If the sections have 

 been wet too much the wood will swell 

 enough to cause this bowing of the folded 

 section. 



With a Rauchfuss combined section-press 

 and foundation-fastener a good operator can 

 fold, starter, and place in the supers from 

 200 to 400 sections an hour. I do not want 

 to sit down at a job of this kind all day, 

 though, for it gets to be very tiresome. 



My brother and I put up 2500 in about nine 

 hours. I scrape the supers and separators, 

 cut the foundation, dampen the sections, fill 

 and wed^e the supers, and carry them away 

 to the pile, while he does the folding and 

 startering. Others may be able to beat that 

 for speed, but it does not take very long to 

 fill all one's supers if you work half a day at 

 it for several weeks. A better fastening of 

 w^ax is secured if the machine is worked rap- 

 idly and the lamp turned up almost high 

 enough to smoke. If it is not worked fast 

 when the lamp is turned up, the plate gets 

 too hot. 



GETTING ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF A GROCER. 



I see an advertisement in Gleanings for 

 a honey salesman who is a bee-man. This 

 is a hopeful sign. There ought to be several 

 hundred such, traveling in the fall, winter, 

 and spring, covering every city of any size 

 in the country. Many small towns can be 

 profitably cultivated too. The bee-keeper 

 who sells his own honey, often does not get 

 what he should for it. In large places the 

 grocers expect to buy honey cheaper of the 

 producer than of a wholesaler or commission 

 man. The grocer feels that here is a chance 

 to buy under the market; and, any way, if 

 the honey is unsatisfactory he has no re- 

 course, while the commission house can be 

 made to right any mistakes made in sending 

 out poorly graded or under-quality goods. 



The first impression made on the buyer is 

 vital to the effectiveness of the interview. 

 If the grocer believes you are honest and 

 reliable, putting up a good quality of goods, 

 he will be quite willing to deal with you. 

 I have had the experience of being turned 

 down the first time, and at each subsequent 

 visit felt the chances for making a sale be- 

 come slimmer. In a case of this kind it is 

 best to quit calling there or study the man; 

 get on the side away from his business; he 

 must forget that you are trying to sell any 

 thing. Visit with him; any man you are 

 talking with should be your friend— that is, 

 you should meet on a friendly basis. 



I have been an interested listener to all 

 kinds of talk. Some I did not agree with; 

 but if the speaker was really animated over 

 his subject, when through he was in condi- 

 tion to receive suggestions as to honey. 

 Many say "no," emphatically; but they 

 should be kept from saying this until they 

 know the facts, and if you nave their atten- 

 tion they won't say it " right off the handle" 

 without explanation. It is best to wait 

 about interviewing a man till you can have 

 his undivided attention for a few minutes. 



