Hamilton, and who writes us, from a 

 city 100 miles away, to get 100 lbs. of 

 honey, because he knows that we sell a 

 pure article. 



We are not the only ones who sell 

 candied honey readily. The first sales 

 are most difficult. We have to convince 

 the grocer that the granulation is not a 

 proof of adulteration ; but as soon as 

 the man is convinced, and lias tried a 

 small quantity, we have in him a con- 

 stant customer. 



Hamilton, 111., Oct. 17, 1878. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Selling Extracted Honey. 



BY D. S. GIVEN. 



As I have always sold my extracted 

 honey at good prices, perhaps my plan 

 might be of use to some that can pro- 

 duce better than sell. The first thing I 

 look to is good ripe honey ; it would be 

 better to throw unripe honey away than 

 put it on the market. The time to at- 

 tend to this is when it is gathered. If 

 it once becomes sour, it has lost its fla- 

 vor and cannot be cured. The best 

 remedy I have found is to let it candy, 

 when the sour part will drain off, then 

 bring it almost to boiling, and skim 

 well. This will help it some, but is not 

 a cure. Honey should always be ripened 

 in the hive. It may be evaporated, but 

 I doubt if the flavor can be held. 



Never extract till it is capped over, 

 is the only safe rule. The more combs 

 you give the bees, the longer it will 

 stand before they cap it, and the thicker 

 it is. It takes much longer in wet 

 weather to ripen than in dry, and if they 

 don't have a good supply of combs, they 

 often cap it too thin. It is nothing un- 

 usual to see comb honey that has soured. 



After you have extracted, place in 

 open vessels ; never seal it up. I have 

 noticed good honey put in Mason jars, 

 which stood sealed up, and when opened 

 it had a sour smell, and had lost some 

 of its flavor. The best thing I have 

 found to keep honey in is tin barrels, 

 with a cloth stretched over them. The 

 next day after extracting, all foreign 

 substances can be skimmed off ; you 

 never need to strain it, as all impurities 

 will come to the top. After this, skim 

 every three or four days, for several 

 times. That which you take off can be 

 placed in another vessel and treated 

 the same way ; but it will never be as 

 nice as the first. Now comes packing 

 and selling. You want something at- 

 tractive, something that will be of use 

 in every house. The best things I have 

 found are quart tin-top fruit jars, and 

 jelly cups for the light. These can be 

 put up with a nice piece of comb in 



them, and nicely labeled. For the 

 darker grades I use a 10-lb. bucket. 

 This can be got up on a cheap scale, at 

 almost any tin shop, for $1.50 per doz. 

 Place " Honey" on these with a stencil, 

 using bright-colored paint. You might 

 put candied honey in the buckets, but 

 in cold weather warm the light honey 

 just so you can hold your finger in it, 

 and it will not candy soon. 



Now comes selling. If you are an 

 affable man, you will not have much 

 trouble to sell your honey. But the 

 trouble is. almost all our best producers 

 are not affable. They are one-minded 

 men ; they go to bed, dream bees all 

 night ; get up ; think, work and talk 

 bees all day. After they have gathered 

 a large crop, they cannot get far enough 

 from a bee-hive to sell a pound of it, 

 but barrel it up and send to some com- 

 mission man, and he sells it to some 

 honey house ; they pack it, bring it back 

 to Mr. A's neighboring city, and sell it; 

 and as he cannot get more than 12 or- 

 is cents, he cannot pay Mr. A more than 

 from 6 to 8 cents. If Mr. A wants good 

 prices, he must establish a home trade. 



In some localities they have been 

 humbugged with unripe and artificial 

 honey so much that it is hard to get 

 your honey in the market, but if your 

 honey is all right you must push it. 



I went into a neighboring city some 

 weeks ago. The first store I went in 

 had some sour honey on the shelf ; the 

 merchant said he had been humbugged 

 enough now with " patented" honey. I 

 went to open a jar, and it popped as 

 though they had forced a gallon into 

 that small jar. I talked hard to this 

 man, and succeeded at last in leaving 

 some, to be paid for if sold. He has 

 since sent me an order for quite a lot 

 at good prices. I think I have him 

 righted, but then he has customers that 

 may never be righted. I went into an- 

 other store and there was some that was 

 about one-fourth honey and the rest 

 syrup. I worked hard on him ; but no, 

 he would never offer any more to his 

 customers. I went away thinking him 

 agood merchant, and wiiltry him again. 



I worked hard the first time I was in 

 that city, and sold but one small lot ; I 

 gave away some, and left several small 

 lots to be paid for if sold. Since then I 

 have shipped over 2,000 lbs. to that city 

 at good prices. 



All we want to sell extracted honey is 

 to produce a good article, place it out in 

 the retail trade packed in good style, 

 stop adulteration, and it is bound to 

 sell. We can afford to sell it lower than 

 comb honey, and we are giving the 

 people something that is far healthier. 



Hoopeston, 111., Nov. 21, 1878. 



