THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



269 



away, and then made a grab for a 

 section, which stuck fast, so fast that 

 he pulled the top off. There was 

 nothing- to hold the dovetailing- together. 

 He threw that top away and tried 

 again. This time the section came 

 out but it was bulged out at one side 

 and caught on to the next one, raking- 

 off the caps from half of that side. 

 The lady did not want that one either, 

 but, having- one out, he soon got out 

 several more, and the lady selected 

 one, and asked the price. 18 cents per 

 pound, — weight 13j'2 ounces. Then I 

 did enjoy seeing that clerk struggle 

 with fractions; but he jumped at it, 

 said "15 cents," got the cash, and the 

 ag-ony was over, or changed. When 

 the customer had left the storethe clerk 

 tried to replace those sections. After 

 seeing him punch a hole in one with 

 the corner of another, I just had to 

 take a hand in it. 



A DRUMMER HELPS A SALESMAN. 



"Pardon me, mj^ boy," I said, "but 

 I see you are in trouble. Allow me to 

 help you a bit. You have sold one, 

 spoiled three, and bid fair to beat the 

 record by the way you g-o at it. Let 

 me show you," and I coaxed them 

 back easily. Then I had to put in a 

 little advice in this way: "Put your 

 mind on your work, my dear boy. You 

 seem to be thinking- of your sweetheart 

 instead of hone3^ Oh! but that's 

 right. I heard you whisper her name, 

 'Helen Blazes, ' when you broke that 

 second comb." 



He grinned and went to attend an- 

 other customer, while I examined that 

 first case which had inspired such dis- 

 gust in the lady, and no wonder. The 

 best had been sold; the culls only re- 

 maining-, excepting- some "fair to good" 

 ones with broken cells, all of them 

 standing in honey which had leaked 

 from punches, scraping and broken 

 sections. It had stood on the counter 

 without a cover, so was full of flies, 

 dust, etc. 



WHERE THE PRODUCER FALLS DOWN. 



This may seem like a hard case, but 

 it was not the exception; it was the 

 general rule; and allow me to add, 

 that just such g-rading and packing, 

 just such weak and flimsy sections, 

 seem to be the prevailing method of 

 producing section honey. Why should 

 it be expected to win the favor of the 

 trade? 



On my return, we met and thorough- 

 ly discussed the situation, and our 

 conclusions, on the whole, were very 

 favorable toward the scheme, but my 

 specifications for the next season's 

 crop, in the way of producing and 

 packing, were thought to be rather 

 difficult to carry out. 



COMB HONEY MUST BE "fOOL PROOF." 



First, I said, we must make it "fool 

 proof, ' ' so that the average grocer can 

 handle it without any chance for in- 

 jury to combs. Easily done by put- 

 ting sliced separators, or veneers, be- 

 tween the rows of sections. The cost 

 is small, and the grocer has a nice 

 wooden box from which to take or re- 

 place a section. 



Second, all comb honey to be sold 

 by count, and graded especially for 

 that system. 



Third, all honey to be ready for 

 shipment October first — no cold weath- 

 er shipments. 



Fourth, no one-piece sections^only 

 four-piece sections, well glued at each 

 corner. I wanted a section to hold 

 the honey, not the honey to hold the 

 section together. 



As we all used separators anyway, 

 the bulged, "fat and lean" 

 sections were not mentioned. Then I 

 could assure the company a ready 

 sale at a good stiff price, as the extra 

 advantages were worth the extra price. 

 I could offer my customer a better 

 bargain than my competitor could, 

 and that is the ' 'pole that gets the per- 

 simmon" every time. 



