1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



139 



thoir brood-chambers than do the extracted- 

 honoy colonies. You get more extracted honey, 

 but leave loss in the hives; yet your colonies 

 did not gather so much more. This may not 

 account for all the ditTerence; but well nigh all 

 that is unaccounted for lies in the management. 

 It takes about as much more skill to make a 

 real successful comb- honey producer as the ap- 

 parent excess of extracted over comb. 



It is easier to produce the extracted, and care 

 for it so as to make a merchantable article, but it 

 costs more for storage room for fixtures and their 

 care, while the product brings about half what 

 comb does per pound. In the matter of putting 

 honey in barrels, let me also give you a bit of 

 experience. I had two white-oak barrels, hand 

 made, that I had used for two or three years. 

 They remained empty, and in a dry place, 

 throughout the summer, until the fall flow, 

 when the hoops were driven as tight as they 

 would bear without bursting (seven and eight 

 hoops to the barrel, and heavy), and were then 

 filled with honey. Soon after filling I shipped 

 them to this State from Iowa. In a few weeks 

 after arriving here the hoops were dropping off 

 and the honey leakii.g. Theso were 25-gallon 

 barrels, and one of them I have here to-day, a 

 good barrel after about ten or more years of 

 service. You may be able to keep your honey 

 in barrels; but how about it when you ship? 



Now, friend F., T vvunt you to take a number 

 of colonie^. run oni naif for comb and the other 

 for extracted, tneu w..igh the total results, both 

 hi and out of the brood-chambers, and report 

 the number of pounds gathered by each divi- 

 sion. I am perfectly willing to trust to you for 

 the details. 



It matters not so much to you and me as to 

 the real right or wrong of this question; but if 

 twice as much extracted can be produced as 

 comb, at the same cost, and the extracted will 

 bring eight cents while the comb brings sixteen, 

 we surely shall make the greater profit out of 

 the extracted, because less skill is required in 

 its production. Because it is su much easier to 

 raije the extracted and still have a merchanta- 

 ble article, I am constantly thinking on the 

 problem of how to arrange my stock so I can 

 handle as much stock in the producing of comb 

 as one man is supposed to be able to care for; 

 then, in addition, have an equal or greater num- 

 ber to run for extracted. The constant care 

 necessary to get a first-class article of comb 

 necessarily makes one limit the amount of 

 stock he runs; but I have not the least doubt 

 that the time is close at hand when we shall be 

 able to manage as successfully two or three 

 hundred colonies for extracted, as .50 to KX) for 

 comb. The control of swarming will enable us 

 to So increase our output of the liquid honey 

 that we can compete with sugars, and be also a 

 great step toward making of it a staple. 



Mr. Editor, if any of your readers have been 

 producing both comb and extracted at the same 



time and place, may we not hear from them — at 

 least in brief statements, giving their opinion 

 as to the actual difference in amount of honey 

 to V)e obtained? 

 Loveland, Colo., Jan. 3.5. 



[This is indeed a very practical question as 

 well as quite a mooted one. We are constantly 

 being asked by beginners how much more ex- 

 tracted than of comb can be produced, or which 

 is the more profitable. When the question was 

 discussed several years ago the opinions of 

 some of our best bee-keepers conflicted some- 

 what; but now larger experience and wider 

 observation on the part of all of us will, we 

 hope, enable us to do the subject more Justice. 

 We desire that not only friend France but the 

 other prominent bee-keepers will give their ex- 

 perience.— Ed.] 



^ I ^ 



MARKETING EXTRACTED HONEY. 



HOW TO GET A TRAUK STAKTED WITH THE 

 GKOCEKS; SOME VALUABLE SUGGESTIONS. 



By Chalon Fowls. 



As I have succeeded in establishing a good 

 home market for my extracted honey, in my 

 own and adjoining towns, selling 3000 to 3000 

 lbs. every season, I will give a few hints show- 

 ing what my methods are. 



First, to show that it pays better than to ship 

 to a distant market in the city, I will say that 

 last season's crop brought me 13K cts. on the 

 average, running from 11 to 14 cts. Now, bear 

 in mind this result was not obtained in a single 

 year; but in the course of a few years a good 

 reputation has been gained for a choice article 

 of honey. Of course, nothing is sold under my 

 labels but choice well-ripened clover and bass- 

 wood honey, ripened on the hives. If I happen 

 to get any dark or inferior honey it is sold at a 

 less price directly to consumers, explaining the 

 reason of the difference in price. I would not 

 let the grocers have it at any price. I put up 

 my honey for families in 1-quart Mason jars, 

 crocks, or any thing they wish; but for 



THE GKOCKUY TRADE, 



it is put up in pint Mason jars or jelly-tum- 

 blers. A simple 1x3 inch white label is used, 

 giving my name and the word honey the most 

 prominence, as it is my belief that the best " dis- 

 play" can be made with theh.o?ie!y itself, which 

 I aim to have "clear as crystal." and put up 

 in flint glass. I make a trip once in five or 

 six weeks with a fresh supply, and call on all 

 the grocers; and any cans unsold, that show 

 signs of candying, are replaced with freshly 

 put-up goods. 



I have often had quite a little difliculty in 

 getting grocers to try my honey the first time. 

 I once talked quite a long time with a grocer 

 whom I will call Mr. A. I can remember a part 

 of the '"palaver," which ran something like 

 this: 



