T58 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL.. 



the liability to cling to the upper roll. 

 As soon as the left hand has fairly 

 started the thin end between the rolls, 

 and it is proceeding through and coming 

 up over the top, grasp the far end of the 

 sheet and pull and stretch the same into 

 line with the rolls, and if the rolls are 

 evenly adjusted, the unrolled part of the 

 sheet will take care of itself. 

 Florence, Calif. 



Selling Honey at Retail. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY W. O. TITUS. 



Under the caption of "To Get Ahead 

 of the Swindlers," on page 6B5, I notice 

 the writer refers to me in rather an un- 

 enviable way. My first thought was to 

 treat it with silent contempt, but upon 

 re-reading it, I find I cannot do it, for 

 it " stings," and I was mad ; it made my 

 blood boil to be classed among swindlers 

 and " venders of the vile stuff." 



And I want to tell Mr. S. that I have 

 never sold or offered for sale one pound 

 of anything for honey that was not the 

 product of the bees', and the best evi- 

 dence I have of that fact is, that I am 

 selling to the same customers over and 

 over, year after year, and they seem to 

 be satisfied with my goods and my 

 prices. 



If I obtain better prices for my goods 

 than Mr. S. can for his, it may be that I 

 work harder and travel more miles to do 

 it. One thing I am sure of, and that is, 

 that the best and purest honey does not 

 draw very many customers either to 

 your apiary or your home for it. No 

 one in the trade would co-operate more 

 heartily than myself, to suppress, in a 

 legitimate way, the sale of adulterated 

 honey ; but excuse me from adopting 

 Mr. S.'s "method." It may be a great 

 "invention" — it certainly is offered 

 cheap— hut, why does he not get up and 

 put it into practice himself, "instead of 

 asking his fellow bee-keepers to do so ? 



For one-half day I would like to see 

 him, taking his extractor, his filled 

 combs, and all the necessary outfit to 

 extract with, along the streets here, and 

 up six or eight flights of stairs into some 

 of the tenement houses. After the 

 combs have gone through the children's 

 hands he would never need to return 

 them to the bee-keeper, for the bees 

 would never recognize them again. 



Then, of course, he would go into the 

 banker's office, the shoe, tailor and 

 blacksmith shops, dry goods, grocery 



and millinery stores, etc., to do his ex- 

 tracting, because he must do it right> 

 before them to prove that it is pure 

 honey, and then some of them might 

 have the audacity to ask him what he 

 fed his bees on, to fill such nice combs ! 

 Well, if he can go into those places to do 

 his work, and emerge and say " there 

 are no flies on him," then all of his 

 "thinking " will not have been wasted. 



Now, Mr. S., how do you know that 

 glucose is being prepared as honey and 

 sold as such by the carload '? Have you 

 seen it, or is it merely hearsay? For 

 myself, I don't believe it. While there 

 may be a few engaged in adulterating 

 honey, I doubt whether there are many, 

 or whether they are selling any great 

 quantity. I have an excellent chance to 

 see, and during the past year I do not 

 believe I have seen 20 pounds, either in 

 the hands of dealers or consumers. 

 Don't let's cry before we are hurt. Don't 

 let's try to magnify a mole-hill into a 

 mountain. No adulterator will last 

 very long, while we can stick to our 

 business for a lifetime, if we choose to, 

 and will act honestly and honorably 

 with our fellow beings. 



Cincinnati, Ohio. 



[We are glad to give the foregoing 

 from Bro. Titus, and to assure him, and 

 also Mr. Melbee, that there wasn't the 

 slightest thought of including them 

 among the " venders of the vile stuff." 

 Upon referring to the letter by Mr. San- 

 ford, on page 635, we now see how such 

 an idea might be gathered, but it was 

 entirely unintentional, and we hope that 

 no harm will result to the two honey- 

 sellers mentioned. We trust they will 

 accept this explanation of that point, 

 for 1/,'e certainly have no reason for 

 thinking, and do not think, that either 

 of the bee-keepers named would stoop to 

 the low level of adulterators of honey. 

 We regret very much that Mr. Titus 

 took it in the way he did, for it was not 

 at all so intended. — Editor.] 



Tlie California Frnit Excliange. 



The California Fruit Exchange is the 

 most extended and important co-opera- 

 tive enterprise ever undertaken. Its 

 success involves the uniting of the en- 

 tire fruit-growing interest of California 

 for common action for common purposes, 



