JULY 1, 1913 



fairs, and found it so profitable that I have 

 kept it up ever since. At the State fairs 

 and all large ones it is no trouble at all to 

 sell comb honey at 20 cents per section, and 

 extracted honej' in 1-pound jars at 25 cents 

 per jar. One gets in touch with all the 

 fancy dealers too, and a great many who 

 buy for their own consumption, until now 

 it is not a question of "Where can I sell my 

 honey with profit f ' ' but " Where can I get 

 the honey to fill all the orders? " This puts 

 me just that much nearer the consumer. In 

 fact, most of my honey is sold direct to the 

 consumer, and the rest of it to fancy deal- 

 ers who retail it. I have several customers 

 who have already spoken for honey to be 

 put up purposely for them next vear to the 

 amount of 500 to 1500 or 2000 lbs. each, at 

 a figure that nets me 121^ cts. per lb. for 

 extracted. This makes a good bargain for 

 them, as they are securing a choice article 

 at a reasonable figure, and at the same time 

 I am getting more for my honey than if I 

 were to sell in the ordinary way. 

 Barryton, Mich. 



SELLING COMB HONEY BY WEIGHT 



BY E. A. BURNETT 



Mr. Hoot:— On p. 140, March 1, in Stray 

 Straws, selling comb honey by weight or by 

 the package is taken up both by Dr. Miller 

 and yourself. While I may not be able to 

 dispel the haze, I will endeavor to put cer- 

 tain facts before yourself and those con- 

 cerned. 



In Illinois the law as interpreted by the 

 legal department of the city of Chicago 

 (with whose representative I talked yester- 

 day) is that any thing that implies weight 

 must be sold by weight ; but a package 

 sealed, such as the Uneeda biscuit, can be 

 sold as such without reference to weight; 

 but if the purchaser asks for a pound of 

 crackers and is given a package that weighs 

 but six ounces, the vender is liable to a fine 

 of from $25 to $200, or thereabout. 



Last summer on this market several com- 

 mission men were aiTested for selling bas- 

 kets of fruit, say of peaches, that were 

 called pecks, half-bushels, and bushels, but 

 which when weighed and the i-eceptacles 

 measured were found to be scant. Fines 

 were imposed upon the sellers for the reason 

 that the purchaser had asked the price of a 

 bushel of peaches and were sold a basket 

 said to contain a bushel. 



While we have not learned of any arrests 

 for selling a case of honey containing 24 

 sections representing them to be pound sec- 

 tions, but in reality weighing less than 24 

 lbs., yet we infer that the offense would be 



similar when the buyer asks for a ease of 

 honey containing 24 pound sections. There 

 are very few dealers who will buy a case 

 of honey unless guaranteed that a certain 

 net weight is contained therein. 



Dr. Miller asks if there is any likelihood 

 in the near future that there will be uni- 

 formity. Replying, I would say that uni- 

 formity is desired by all of us, if for noth- 

 ing else than the eliminating of labor and 

 confounding of terms. Yet there are few 

 of us who can read accurately what is going 

 to occur in the future. We think we see 

 certain results; but as they are about to be 

 realized, a new phase of the difficulty arises, 

 and once more the certainty becomes an 

 uncertainty. 



The writer, in reviewing the history of 

 more than thirty years in vending honey, is 

 of the opinion that the mind of man is 

 quite uncertain. To illustrate is quite un- 

 necessary, as persons of middle age will 

 have learned that in their experience. 



We speak of a wood frame that is made 

 so that it can contain 16 ounces of comb 

 honey more or less. When the seasons are 

 favorable, and intelligent manipulation is 

 given to the frame, the weight of each ap- 

 proximates 16 ounces, usually spoken of as 

 one-pound sections, but that the section 

 may contain only half of this amount is 

 also true. 



In Colorado or the Rocky Mountain re- 

 gion it seems that the producer can come 

 more nearly to a given weight in sections 

 than in any other part of the country; and 

 I have been told that the reasons are that 

 the bees gather about so much nectar each 

 day during the working period, the bee- 

 keepers use separators and other means for 

 guidance of the bees in storing, and the 

 apiaries are large enough to enable the 

 apiarist to select sections of about an even 

 weight and jDack them in a case so that a 

 number of cases will not vary more than a 

 pound each, many of them being the same 

 weight, so that the seller can say that his 

 lot of honey averages 21 lbs. net to the case, 

 or that there is a lot that averages 18 lbs. 

 net. 



Now, as a matter of fact, isn't this selling 

 honey by weight when a given amount is 

 guaranteed"? What has been said applies 

 chiefly to the producer and wholesaler. Re- 

 tailers differ in their method of selling hon- 

 ey. Some will buy five or ten cases of hon- 

 ey containing 24 sections each; will pile it 

 up on the counter or in a showcase, and sell 

 by the section. If the honey has been grad- 

 ed as would be necessary under the Colo- 

 rado rules, the difference in weight would 

 not be more than from one to two ounces; 

 but if it was under the eastern grading 



