1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



549 



one instance the larger part of the purchase was put into a 

 damp cellar, and nearly ruined. The same I have found to be 

 true in selling to private parties. 



The bee-keeper must do a great deal of talking along this 

 line of instruction. To old customers I do not now have much 

 ef this to do ; but with new ones it seems as necessary as ever. 



Right here is a very important point for all bee-keepers 

 to consider. As good honey as can be produced may be nearly 

 ruined by unwise handling ; and when such deteriorated 

 honey is consumed, it disgusts the consumer, nearly ruins 

 future sales, and, where hundreds of pounds could have been 

 sold, only tens are disposed of. 



After supplying with the honey all the dealers named, 

 and a few minutes spent in pleasant conversation, I take my 

 leave, with the understanding that I will supply them so long 

 as my stock of honey lasts ; or, if no more is on hand, to call 

 on them the next season if a crop is secured. And so I have 

 aimed to keep my trade in all these towns by keeping them 

 supplied when I have had any honey to sell, always aiming to 

 make our deal as pleasant for my patrons as for myself. The 

 honey should be well ripened, kept later in a hot, dry honey- 

 room, put up for sale in the neatest way possible, and each 

 package labeled with the name of the producer, etc., and sold 

 for just what it is. If the honey is No. 1, sell it as such ; if 

 not, or only No. 2, use no deception, but deal honestly. In 

 complying with the above, trade once gained will be held, and 

 a clear conscience also. 



Town designated as No. 3 is distant from my apiary 13 

 miles, and had at one time within its borders, and near by, 

 fully 500 colonies of bees. Owing to the large number of 

 bees kept, and over-supplying this market, the price of honey 

 ruled low. If some of the honey produced there had been 

 marketed in adjoining towns, paying prices might have been 

 maintained ; for the amount of honey produced in or near the 

 other towns was slight. Many times the low prices realized 

 for honey are our own fault, and are caused by the unwise or 

 foolish distribution of our honey in marketing, as indicated 

 above. Bee-keepers should consider this matter thoroughly 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific. We see some of our large 

 cities overstocked with honey nearly every year, while other 

 good markets are hardly considered. At present the town 

 mentioned above has within its borders but few bees ; but the 

 people have come to think that they should not pay over 10 

 or 12 cents for the finest comb honey in section-boxes ; or a 

 large portion seem to at least. I never sold, or attempted to 

 sell, any honey in that town until recent years, for two rea- 

 sons, viz.: First, the market belonged to my bee-keeping 

 friends living there ; and, second, the prices did not suit me. 

 Having a little other business, I thought to supplement it by 

 taking along a few cases of comb honey and a few cans of 

 extracted on this my first visit as a honey-seller. 



On my arrival I drove up to a grocery, and tied my horse. 

 The grocer was just placing some newly-arrived peaches out 

 in front of his store. After a little conversation as to the 

 fruit, I told him I had brought some honey to town, and 

 would like to have him look at it. I took a case of comb 

 honey from the buggy, and placed it near him where it could 

 be inspected. The honey through the glass looked tempting. 

 I removed the cover, then took out a few boxes for his in- 

 spection. He said he had never seen any neater honey than 

 that, and it was well put up. Three or four townsmen came 

 up and looked at the honey, lie asked me what I was selling 

 it at. I told him 15 cents per pound. He said he had no fault 

 to find with the honey ; but when honey had to be retailed at 

 over 12 or 15 cents, it was slow selling in their town. 



I informed him that, in the other towns, I was selling at 

 15 cents, and no complaint. He declined to take any. I 

 then had him sample the extracted. He thought it fine. I 

 gave him the price, stating that no one should find fault with 



the price he could sell this at; but my efforts with him were 

 apparently in vain. 



Right here I wish to say that, in this town, those new in 

 the extracting business had, years before, taken unripe honey 

 from their bees and sold it, which had nearly ruined the sale 

 of honey in this form, as it fermented, and was not fit to sell 

 as honey. 



I next called at grocery No. 2. Finding them busy, I 

 waited until they had a little leisure. I noticed an old case 

 containing, perhaps, 25 one-pound sections, all daubed with 

 propolis, sections and combs dark, looking as if they had been 

 in use many years. The combs were only partially filled with 

 honey, and, of course, not capped. At a leisure moment I 

 made my business known, and I secured their permission to 

 bring in a case of my honey. It was viewed through the glass 

 readily. I removed the cover, and took out some of the boxes 

 for their inspection. The honey suited them. My price was 

 asked and given. 



" We have some comb honey over here," showing that 

 first noticed by me on entering their store. I asked who pro- 

 duced it, and learned that he was an old friend, and a man of 

 intelligence quite above the average. I knew him to be, as 

 the reader knows well, not made for a bee-keeper. At first I 

 sold them one case of the honey. I stated that I should not 

 be in with honey that season again, and would think they 

 could readily sell more, but that they were to be the judges 

 in that matter. They took one more case, thinking also that 

 they could do so. As they had a supply of extracted, I made 

 no sale, but let them sample my own. The price was 15 cents 

 per pound for the two cases. I left, with the encouragement 

 of probable future sales. 



The next grocery was visited, and I found it unsupplied 

 with honey ; so 1 effected a small sale of comb and extracted, 

 and shall try to supply that store with honey in the future, if 

 I am so fortunate as to get a crop of honey. 



A few cans of the extracted were sold before leaving 

 town, to private parties, for home use. 



Where I have made sales of any consequence of extracted 

 honey at the stores, I have not retailed ; but if no honey could 

 be sold at the stores, I have felt free to retail it in any such 

 town, either in or out of the comb. The results of the day in 

 selling honey were limited, but the start had been made in 

 opening up what may prove to be a fair market for honey 

 near home at fair prices. — Gleanings. 



Milledgeville, 111. 



Notes from Virgil — Something Historical. 



BY EMERSON T. ABBOTT. 

 (Continued from page 534.) 



They also seem to have begun early the study of the ques- 

 tion of color, and in the days of our annotator, a few at least 

 had begun to recognize the fact that the so-called ruler of the 

 hive is a female. 



" One shines with Gold, whom glorious Colors grace." 



"The Queen (for Mr. Butler will have it a Feminine 

 Monarchy) is a fair, stately Bee, differing from the rest in 

 shape and color ; her Back a bright Brown, her Belly a sad 

 yellow ; her tongue and spear shorter than the other Bees, 

 who both provide and fight for her. 



•'Two sorts they are," 

 says Virgil; upon which the annotator remarks, "This plu- 

 rality of Kings is observed by Aristotle. ' One,' saith ho, ' is 

 red, which is the better, the other black and spotted, twice as 

 big as the rest.' Varro seems to make three Kinds, the black, 

 red, and spotted ; These are observed to be in the higher part 

 of the Hive, and if there be any division among them, they 

 destroy all but that one which is the best. This two sorts of 



