■il6 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



it will carry from two to three tons. Much 

 lighter material could be used, so as to 

 carry 500 to 600 pounds, and cost about 

 $20 for enough track for 200 or 300 colo- 



DISPOSING OF A HONEY CROP IN A LARGE 

 CITY 



BY ALBION PLATZ 



«»/' /SPRINO 

 HILLSIDE 



nies. I would not do without the car, as it 

 enables me to do about one-third or a half 

 more work, and makes work a great deal 

 easier. It is especially advantageous in the 

 height of the honey-flow when every thing 

 goes on a rush and everybody is tired. 



The apiary faces the east, so that the bees 

 begin to work early ; and the mountains for 

 miles slope toward the apiary, and are cov- 

 ered with some of the best honey-yielding 

 flora. It is also well protected from cold 



'^z 



wiuds. When the hives are more than 200 

 feet from the extracting-room it is a little 

 difficult to see the swarms, so I keep queen- 

 guards or traps on the colonies which are 

 furthest away. The canyon is very short. 

 It seldom has any running water in it, al- 

 though I arranged the ditch for it to run in, 

 in case there should be a cloudburst directly 

 overhead. 



Chatsworth, Cal. 



PKATH OF ISAAC CARTER. 



My father, Isaac N. Carter, died May 7, 1912. 

 He had a nice apiary, and was a great reader of 

 Gleanings. 



Recknor, La., May 18. Charley C.\rter. 



To sell honey in a city is an easy matter : 

 first, because of an almost limitless market 

 and demand; and, secondly, because your 

 customers, knowing that you keep bees, 

 have unbounded confidence in the purity of 

 your honey. Bee-hives, to those born and 

 raised in a city, always excite a great 

 amount of curiosity and interest; and to 

 show a few frames of bees and the queen, 

 and, lastly, a frame of newly capped honey 

 to a party of spectators, always invites 

 many sales. 



The honey which I secured from my little 

 seven-colony apiary located on Mt. Auburn, 

 a thickly settled suburb about 1% miles 

 from the heart of the city, is all sold local- 

 ly and within a radius of four miles. I run 

 exclusively for extracted honey, and have a 

 fixed price from which I never deviate; 

 viz., 20 cts. iDer pound. I am employed in 

 our local postofifice, and naturally come in 

 contact with a great many people, espe- 

 cially my fellow-clerks, and these are my 

 best customers. Naturally, they tell others 

 about the honey, which they are sure is 

 ]iure, and thus I have more customers than 

 I can supply. I put up my honey in pint 

 and quart Mason jars, and for the former 

 I receive 35 cts., and the latter 65, refund- 

 ing 5 cts. for every jar returned. 



In marketing honey in this manner, there 

 is no expense for containers, labels, fancy 

 bottles, etc., for it is a well-known fact that 

 a gaudy package often envelopes a very in- 

 ferior article. No guarantee of purity is 

 ever used or demanded. The buyers see the 

 bees in my garden, and it is a foregone 

 conclusion that the honey is pure. This 

 year I intend to produce some comb honey, 

 as tlie demand for it is steadily on the in- 

 crease, and I have many demands for it al- 

 ready, being offered 25 cts. per section. 

 However, I can make a larger profit on ex- 

 tracted at 20 cts., and would rather stick 

 to the latter, as it is easier to produce, and 

 I can secure almost twice as much per colo- 

 ny. I would advise the small beekeeper to 

 run for both comb and extracted, if he has 

 the equipment, and in tliis way all pur- 

 chasers are satisfied. 



I advise all who have a taste for apicul- 

 ture, and who have a little spare space in 

 their back yards, even though they live in 

 congested subui'bs, to keep a few colonies 

 of bees. There is no better recreation for 

 the city man, and the returns in honey and 

 money always justify the little time and 

 energy spent on the pets. 



Cincinnati, May 17. 



