THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



59 



HOWTO BUILD UP A HOMK MARKET. 



IVrseveranco is the main factor 

 in acconiplisliintr this desirable 

 end. Some small circulais sent 

 out by the apiarist, explaining the 

 manner of taking pure honey from 

 the comb, and some directions 

 about its management to keep it 

 fresh and free from fermentation, 

 how to' reduce granulated honey 

 to its natural or liquid state, its 

 different uses for cooking and 

 table purposes, its healthfulness, 

 etc., should bo delivered, one to 

 each family in the circuit of the 

 " hon)e market," and above all, 

 samples of pure honey taken from 

 the comb, should be left with every 

 family that is not acquainted with 

 the article in that shape. If the 

 name " extracted honey " is good 

 enough for you, you can put that 

 "■hifalutin" name in your circulars, 

 but it will be a '"mill stone" about 

 the neck of your enterprise, so far 

 as your home market is concerned . 

 If such is not the case your expe- 

 rience will differ from mine. A 

 smart boy can be trained to sell 

 honey in and out of the comb, 

 from a light spring wagon provided 

 with all the necessary conven- 

 iences for handling and weighing 

 the honey. He should be directed 

 to leave some hone}'^ at ever}' new 

 home he enters and fails to make 

 a sale of honey. A circular should 

 be left at each house he visits. In 

 this wa}' hunderds of dollars can 

 be taken in, at prices enough better 

 than city market prices to pa}' the 

 extra expenses of disposing of 

 honey in this way. After the 

 home market has been well estab- 

 lished, the spring-wagon system 

 will not be necessary, except to 

 widen the business and to deliver 

 orders for honey in the towns, etc. 



Christiansbiirg, Ky. 



For the A merican Apiculturist. 

 By Eugene Secou. 



POOR QUALITY HONEY — THE EXTRAC- 

 TOR HONEY A LUXURY THE SUC- 

 CESSFUL HONEY PRODUCER. 



We sometimes atfect righteous 

 indignation toward those who adul- 

 terate honey. No words are cans- 

 tic enough to express our wrathful 

 ebullitions. But did it ever occur 

 to you that the possil)ilities of such 

 nefarious practices are greatly en- 

 hanced by the poor quality of un- 

 adulterated honey, especially ex- 

 tracted, often found on the market? 



Probably more injury has been 

 done the beekeeping interest by 

 putting upon the market poor 

 honey — unripe, sour, thin or detest- 

 able in quality — than by commer- 

 cial adulterations. I only pretend 

 to voice my own convictions when 

 I say that the extractor, regarded 

 by many as the greatest invention 

 in modern apiarian appliances, has 

 done the industry more harm than 

 good. It is an easy matter to 

 concoct a mixture, independent of 

 the aid of bees, that will taste bet- 

 ter to the average purchaser of 

 sweets than some of the so-called 

 honey got with the aid of the ex- 

 tractor. When a novice first gets 

 an extractor and finds how easy it 

 is to " sling " honey, he is, perhaps, 

 anxious to astonish his neighbors 

 by his wonderfully superior "bee- 

 lore." He is after large yields with 

 no thought of quality. He ex- 

 tracts early and often — as the 

 trained ward politician in the next 

 precinct votes. Instead of honey, 

 he extracts nectar. Instead of a 

 rich, oily, aromatic delicacy whose 

 fragrant memories will linger long 

 after the joy has passed, he has 

 some sweetened water that will 

 hasten to convert itself into vine- 

 gar, as if ashamed to attempt to 

 counterfeit what it can never equal. 



If nothing but the best were 

 sold, it would be impossible to im- 



