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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



April 5, 1906 



not do to offer for sale, and it was set aside, but after months 

 when sampled was found to be most excellent in flavor and 

 body. Thin honey deteriorates, but thick, well-ripened honey 

 gets better with months of age. 



Most readers will recall that I am the man who has said 

 so much about eliminating the cost that comes between the 

 harvesting of the cro™ and the time the consumer gets his 

 fist on it. There is very much honey that, after it is off the 

 hive and extracted, is doubled, and even trebled, in price, be- 

 fore the consumer gets it; this ought not to be, and must not 

 be, if we are to be satisfied as prodvicers. Let your extracted 

 honey remain on the hive until thoroughly ripened, then when 

 extracted put it up neatly, but cheaply, and in most con- 

 venient shape to reach the consumer without too expensive a 

 "peeling," and it will be in demand. Divide the cost of that 

 thick "peeling" between yourself and the man who eats your 

 honey, and you will be a benefactor. This world is so full 

 of vain show and display at the sacrifice of quality that it 

 makes one sick at heart, and afraid to trust even his nearest 

 neighbor and friend until dissected and proved. 



Loveland, Colo. 



# 



Shipping and Selling Section Honey 



BY G. C. CREIXEK. 



AFTER so much has been said and written on the sale of 

 our products, it seems almost like a useless repetition to 

 discuss that subject again. At the same time, late ob- 

 servations convince me that the subject is by no means ex- 

 hausted yet, but is still open to continued considerations and 

 investigations. If the few remarks I intend to make in this 

 article should happen to "strike home" occasionally, I wish 

 to have it plainly understood that it is not my intention to 

 reflect upon anybody's mismanagement, or criticise other 

 bee-keepers' affairs, but rather point out some mistakes, which, 

 if corrected, will not only benefit the individual, but be a 

 benefit to all of us, by improving the honey-market in general. 



A short time ago I made a flying visit to one of Buffalo's 

 main markets. I had no honey to sell — simply walked up and 

 down the street for the purpose of making observations. 

 After spending some time in taking in the various displays in 

 the line of household necessities, I came across several lots 

 of section-honey in 24-pound cases stacked up on the side- 

 walk, the sight of which, to express it mildly, made me heart- 

 sick. No wonder we hear complaints of slow and unsatis- 

 factory sales. The outside appearance of those cases was 

 anything but inviting; they were most awfully dirty and 

 dusty, and reminded me very forcibly of some cast-away 

 shipping-boxes that had been stored for months in some out- 

 of-the-way coal-shed. This point alone is a great drawback 

 in trying to make sales. At the present day we are all accus- 

 tomed to find everything in the line of eatables neat and 

 tasty in appearance. Our up-to-date groceries are full of 

 fancy goods, and I would blame no proprietor for objecting 

 to have packages like the above take a place among his care- 

 fully selected stock. 



When I deliver section-honey to the retailer, every case 

 is done up in paper; it is clean before it is done up, and after 

 carrying it in a dust-proof wagon, it is, when placed on the 

 counter of the grocery, as clean as a new-laid egg. The same 

 is the case when 1 deliver direct to the consumer. Every 

 package — be it one, two, or more sections — is neatly wrapped 

 up in white paper, with card-board protections on the face 

 sides and nicely labeled. All this may seem like a waste of 

 time and expense, and I admit it looks so at first, but does it 

 not pay in the end. if I can thereby establish and maintain a 

 ready market for all I can produce at the highest market 

 price, while the slip-shod producer would have to be satisfied 

 with slow sales, at lower prices, and perhaps no sales at all ? 



After satisfying myself in taking an outside view, 1 

 stepped a little closer to examine the contents and found a 

 most poorly sorted lot. As near as I could tell by looking 

 through the glass, no pains had been taken to keep the differ- 

 ent grades separate or to sort by general appearance. Some 

 of the sections were all finished, with bordering cells all 

 capped, while others had all open cells on the outside, and 

 still others were not even all built out. The nacker had over- 

 looked the fact that, next to cleanliness, uniform appearance 

 is the most essential feature in casing honey. It pleases the 

 eye and attracts the attention of the would-be purchaser 



To cap the climax, the honey was exposed to the outside 

 temperature, which was at the time of my visit 28 deg.,Fahr., 

 during noon hours, and undoubtedly had been considerably 

 lower in the morning, or when the honey was first set out. 



Consequently it was Ladly cracked. Those cakes, that were 

 well fastened to the frame, had cracks through the middle, or 

 from corner to corner, and those with fastenings not strong 

 enough to resist the contraction, were cracked loose on three 

 sides. Now what would be the consequences if a retailer 

 should be tempted by the low price the dealer would have to 

 ask to find a buyer at all, to purchase this inferior and dam- 

 aged lot? By the time the honey had been carted to the re- 

 tailer's establishment over the rough city pavement many of 

 the combs, already frail and brittle from the cold, would have 

 been broken from their last support, bruising one another 

 without anything to prevent it. Then, after the honey had 

 been placed in the warm store and had time to regain its 

 natural fluidity, what a nice, leaky muss it all would make! 

 The whole affair would be a detriment to the honey-market; 

 the retailer would not handle such mussy stuff a second time r 

 and the consumer would not buy it again. 



It is a fact, that after comb-honey has left the hands of 

 the experienced producer, not one man out of 50 knows how 

 to handle it properly, and it is therefore to the producer's 

 own interest to manage in such a way that the chance of 

 breakage is reduced as much as possible, and that his ship- 

 ments arrive at destination in prime condition. Too eager 

 to make the most of our crops, we frequently put up honey 

 that is not fit for shipping, and it is not the novice alone who 

 fails to exercise sufficient care in this direction, but we older 

 ones are quite liable to make the same mistake. Only such 

 combs as are well attached to the wood, that we know will 

 stand the rough handling of shipping, should be selected for 

 distant markets. Anything frail or the least doubtful might 

 better be kept at home and sold for whatever it may bring. 



To prevent damage by freezing, comb honey should be 

 shipped early. It is a great mistake to wait for higher prices 

 (which we generally don't get), and hang on to our crops 

 until cold weather sets in. The proper time for shipping is, 

 as a rule. September and October. This gives the commission 

 house or the wholesale dealer, as the case may be, a chance 

 to dispose of their stock during November, so that by the 

 time settled winter weather sets in, about the first of Decem- 

 ber, it may all be in the hands of the retailer, where it gen- 

 erally is out of the way of frost. The finest honey that would 

 be a pleasure and comfort to handle will make an unsightly, 

 dauby mess, if exposed to freezing weather. I always make it 

 a point to move all my comb honey, that I may have left late 

 in the season, to warmer quarters, where frost is positively 

 excluded. 



Next to the production of the crop, early and quick sales, 

 the natural results of timely and attractively-put-up goods. 

 should be the main aim of the honey-producer, if he expects 

 to make his occupation profitable. La Salle, N. Y. 



Plea for a Better General Education— 

 Family "Apidae." 



BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



IT is now recognized by business men, no less than by pro- 

 fessional men. that in any department of industry one 

 can not know too much. Carnegie once decried education 

 for the mechanic and business men as really a handicap. But 

 in these latter years our educational methods, and the real 

 results of higher education, have greatly changed, so that to- 

 day our captains of industry value education as highly as do 

 even the college men themselves. Few men are giving so 

 generously, or helping so energetically, as is Mr. Carnegie, to 

 foster higher education. He notices that business is greatly 

 indebted to the educated men for its push forward, and he 

 now sees clearlv that even in the shop and office it is the thor- 

 oughly educated man that first reaches the goal, or, in other 

 words, who captures the large prizes. 



One reason that agriculture has not kept pace with other 

 businesses is because, as a class, farmers are not educated. 

 Yet the farmer has need of as thorough an education as any 

 class of workers, whether brain or brawn counts in results. 

 If I may be personal. I have one son. I early urged upon him 

 the advantages of farm life to one educated for it. He. as a 

 boy— a mere lad, in truth — elected to be a farmer. His col- 

 lege course was selected accordingly. He has now been on 

 the farm 12 years and neither he nor I have ever regretted 

 his choice. I know of few men more enamored of their work. 

 Culture not only brings a larger measure of success, but it 

 makes all practical activities more pleasurable. I have often 

 felt that were I a ditcher I should wish an education. I 

 could dig better ditches, at less expenditure of time and 



