600 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 20, 1900. 



tion I will not say any more on that point, except that every 

 part which does not show honey or glass, consists of wax- 

 work. The table on which my exhibit was placed is 22 

 feet long-. The pyramid at the further end is about eijjht 

 feet high, and seven feet wide. This pyramid is nailed 

 perrmanently in place so that it will be there ready for use 

 every season ; thereby saving- much time in getting the 

 honey in place. 



That space in front of the pyramid, of which only a 

 part can be seen, was taken up by a display of bees and im- 

 plements. A part of the counter, from which the honey 

 was sold, is shown just in front of the wax arrangements 

 by the portico of the house. 



After having the leading feature of the exhibit packt 

 and ready for shipment, the next move is the packing of 

 the honey so that it will arrive at the grounds in good con- 

 dition. This is of great importance. I know of one man 

 who shipt quite a quantity of it, and it was nearly all 

 broken. I think the most successful method of shipping 

 honey, unless in very large quantities, is to tie the comb 

 honey in bundles, two cases with glass in a bundle ; the 

 ropes which cross the top case in the center serving as a 

 convenient place for the hand in lifting. 



With extracted honey, the cans or bottles should have 

 folded paper packing between them, running each way. 

 They should also have a heavier packing arourd the sides; 

 and at the top and bottom there should be very heavy mats 

 of the same material. In fact, the secret of successful pack- 

 ing is in having the. jars fit perfectly tight. I have had a 

 box containing 24-pint Mason jars filled with honey fall 

 into the street from the top of my load without cracking a 

 single can. I find that a box which will contain about 40 

 pounds of honey in jars is the best package for shipping. 



In shipping my honey I do not send it directly to the 

 fair grounds ; for the goods are so roughly handled at that 

 point, and the railroad company will not be responsible for 

 damages. I have it shipt to the city, about two miles fur- 

 ther on, where it is more carefully handled. It is then con- 

 veyed by means of truck teams back to the grounds. 



I manage, if possible, to arrive at the grounds two or 

 three days before the fair commences, so as to have plenty 

 of time in setting up the exhibit. 



I always carry a cot bed with me so that I can camp 

 down right beside my table. This makes it far less expen- 

 sive for us than if we paid SI. 00 per night for lodging. Dur- 

 ing the day we keep our bedding under the tables ; and, by 

 the way, I think it is a very good plan to have as many 

 boxes as possible of a size that will slide under the table 

 easily, for then we are sure of having them when we get 

 ready to repack the exhibits. 



If an exhibitor is going to sell honey during the fair he 

 should be particular to arrange the exhibit so that the lead- 

 ing feature shall be as near as possible to the counter from 

 which sales are to be made ; for there is where the visitors 

 become interested, and interested visitors make good cus- 

 tomers. 



In conclusion, I will say that any one who is intending 

 to enter this department of the bee-business should be pre- 

 pared to meet the many disappointments which will arise, 

 and to take them as a matter of course. — Bee-Keepers' Re- 

 view. Somerset Co., Maine. 



1 ?6 



Selecting Locations for Bee-Ke.epin§. 



IIV -- INn.E LISIIA.'' 



SO we all hegan to discuss locations, as bee-keepers will. Of 

 course, Charley Atkins thought Cuha the bee-keeper's para- 

 dise. But.I told him of the long continued heat and the worse 

 dampness ; the insects, the lack of good society, etc. 



" Well,'' said Charley, " I think I can stand the heat, and I 

 guess there aren't any insects much worse than the bees them- 

 selves; and as for society, my vife is as good society as I want." 

 "Good !" said Deacon Strong. " I like to see a man standby 

 and appreciate bis wife; but did you ever think your wife may not 

 be able to remain there long ? I have known a good many fami- 

 lies to go no further south than Florida, and it would not be many 

 years before their wives or ilaughters, or both or all, would be 

 coming North to visit; and they would visit all their brothers and 

 sisters, and uncles and aunts, staying at each place a good long 

 while. They seemed to have learned the art of sitting to perfec- 

 tion, and lookt so contented like when sitting, as tho they had kind 

 o' grown to the chair. And pretty soon the head of the family 

 would come, too. His skin was several shades darker than when 



he went South. He usually goes into ecstasy over our invigorat- 

 ing climate, and thinks he would better stay. And as for insects, I 

 met a bee-keeper from Florida a few years ago, a regular cracker, 

 as Northern folks call them, and I askt him what kind of place it 

 was in Florida for bee-keeping. ' Well,' said he, ' it is a perty good 

 place over on the Indian River, where there are plenty of orange- 

 groves and mangrove. The mangrove gives lots of honey, and of 

 pretty good quality, when the frost doesn't kill it;' but then he 

 thought of some of the vexations even in that favored locality, 

 and added, ' But there is one trouble in keeping bees in Florida, 

 when you handle your bees you have to wear a bee-veil to keep oflf 

 the mosquitoes.' So you see there are troubles, even in that lanjj 

 of flowers." 



" There is another thing : we must not forget about locations," 

 said I. " If there is a big yield in any section of country, we hear 

 of it and are apt to think that the best place in the world. One 

 year Mr. Manum. of \'ermont, had an enormous yield of honey; 

 yet now, owing to cutting down the basswood, and other causes, 

 the yield of honey is scarcely large enough to make bee-keeping 

 pay, and he is turning his attention to fruit and garden truck A 

 place may be very good one year and very poor the next. They 

 seem to get pretty good crops in the buckwheat sections of New 

 York, but sometimes the buckwheat fails to yield honey, and it 

 almost always sells for less than white honey. I have always 

 thought the central parts of Vermont were very poor foi; honey ; 

 yet Mr. M. F. Cram, secretary of the Vermont Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, had, last year, I believe, the largest crop of honey of any 

 person in Vermont, and perhaps in New England, and he had a 

 fine crop the year before. He lives in a queer place to think of 

 making bees pay. I made him a visit last summer, and found to 

 my surprise he lived near the top of a great hill. After walking 

 up what is known as Cram Hill until I perspired profusely, and 

 was not a little weary, I found his place. I am afraid I wasn't 

 very polite; for, almost as soon as I found him, I accused him of 

 being pretty well stunk up. He said he didn't think he was, as he 

 was only 2,000 feet above sea-level, which he considered very mod- 

 erate. Here he makes it pay in producing choice honey that he 

 sells for prices that might please any bee-keeper at the present 

 time. 



"Then there is California; but they have drouths, or dry 

 years, and many of the beekeepers have to leave their families 

 and bach it, as Rambler does; and while some years they get large 

 crops, it doesn't sell as high as our honey right near the markets — 

 at least, doesn't net them so much. In Colorado they are already 

 overstockt with bees, and so it goes." 



" I guess," said Deacon Strong, " finding a good place to begin 

 bee-keeping is a good deal like finding a good place to begin to be a 

 Christian. Some folks seem to think it would not be difficult if 

 tbey were only living among strangers, or were out West, or fol- 

 lowing some other occupation ; but I believe there is no better 

 place than right where you are. Most of our successful bee-keepers 

 began right where they were, and have made the business pay." — 

 Gleanings in Bee Culture. 



York's Honey Calendar for 1900 is a 16-page pamph- 

 let especially gotten up to create a demand for honey among 

 should-be consumers. The forepart was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to general information concern- 

 ing honey. The latter part consists of recipes for use in 

 cooking and as a medicine. It will be found to be a very 

 effective helper in working up a home market for honey. 

 We furnish them, postpaid, at these prices : A sample 

 free ; 25 copies for 30 cents ; SO for SO cents ; 100 for 90 

 cents ; 250 for $2.00 ; SOO for S3.S0. For 25 cents extra we 

 will print j'our name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. 

 ■*-*-*• 



Belgian Hare Breeding is the title of a pamphlet just 

 publisht, containing 10 chapters on " Breeding the Belgian 

 Hare." Price, 25 cents, postpaid. It covers the subjects of 

 Breeding, Feeding, Houses and Hutches, Diseases, Methods 

 of Serving for the Table, etc. It is a practical and helpful 

 treatise for the amateur breeder. (See Prof. Cook's article 

 on page 292.) For sale at the office of the American Bee 

 Journal. For $1,10 we will send the Bee Journal for a year 

 and the 32-page pamphlet on " Belgian Hare Breeding." 



The Premiums offered this week are well worth work- 

 ing for. Look at them. 



