THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



For the American ApicuUuriat. 



DEVELOPING A HOME 

 MARKET. 



William k. Gould. 



Perhaps tlicie is little that I can 

 say which will lie of aid to the ex- 

 peiieiiced becki'ci)er ; but I state 

 my views upon the matter with the 

 hope that I may drop some thought 

 which may benefit some of the be- 

 ginners in this our chosen pursuit. 



In a year like 1887, in some loca- 

 tions it might be advisable to ship 

 our honey to a city market ; but I 

 have not found it so. To be sure, 

 my crop was light, comparatively 

 speaking (only 1450 lbs.) ; but 

 there are 250 colonies of bees to 

 supply our local market, and I, 

 alone, could do nearly that, as far 

 as the town is concerned. 



Why not use extra exertions to 

 dispose of our honey without hur- 

 rying it awa}' to compete with others 

 in a city market? 1 mean why not 

 retail it ourselves? I find that my 

 neighbors like honey as well as any 

 one (I live in the country and my 

 neighbors include all the farmers 

 and laboring men for several miles 

 around) and are not afraid to buy 

 twenty five or lifty pounds at a 

 time. I could easily have sold five 

 crops like mine. 



Honesty, good weight and good 

 honey are the elements of success. 



Situated as I am, lean often make 

 honey take the place of money in 

 hiring work done and in obtainiug 

 necessaries, such as wood, lumber 

 for hives, etc. This saves the ex- 

 pense of marketiug and the com- 

 mission which must be given a 

 dealer. 



We cannot be too careful in pre- 

 paring honey for sale. Ever}'^ sec- 

 tion should be carefiiUy gone over 

 and all propolis and stains removed. 

 It pays to take time to do this well, 

 even when it is to be sold to our 



neighbors. Were I to give a crate 

 of honey away, I should want it to 

 look as neat and attractive as pos- 

 sible—that is the best way to ad- 

 vertise. 



In crating honey I think it poor 

 policy to make it "gilt edged" in 

 looks ; that is, to put the best sec- 

 tions where they can bo seen and 

 the poorer ones out of sight. Let 

 the sections next the glass be fair 

 samples of the whole lot. 



I have found extracted honey 

 the most salable among the farmers. 

 " It is cheaper and goes farther" 

 they say. Don't try to sell honey 

 too soon after it has been extract- 

 ed, especially if part of it has 

 ])een taken from uncapped combs. 

 Should you do so, you will have an 

 oi)portuuity to regret it. At least 

 I did when I first commenced the use 

 of the extractor. Another thing, 

 be sure to impress upon the mind 

 of your customers that honey that 

 candies is pure honey. Study your 

 home market and seek to develop 

 it first, last and all the time. If 

 your customers come to you with 

 grievances, try to satisfy tliem even 

 if you do more than what is right. 

 It jxtys. 



Fremont, Mich. 



For the American Apiculturist. 



USE OR NON-USE OF 

 FOUNDATION. 



L. Stachelhausen. 



In the June An, 1884, page 97, 

 I tried to explain why swarms 

 should be hived on starters only, 

 and I gave several different ways 

 to make true swarms in an artifi- 

 cial way. Some years before that 

 I hived swarms in the manner ex- 

 plained. 



Since that time G. M. Doolittle 

 and W. Z. Hutchinson have rec- 

 ommended hiving swarms on start- 



