413 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



as there is no patent on them. I must now 

 look after my soap. There, wife is fussing with 

 it. She thinks I don't know how to make soap; 

 but I will show her I do before I get through 

 with it." 



"Don't you believe this lye is too strong?"' 

 asks Mrs. M. 



"Why! bless you, no. You can't get lye too 

 strong to make soap. All it wants is boiling." 



'* Well, but you have been boiling it all day. 

 I think there is something wrong. It either 

 wants water or more lye," says Mrs. M. 



"I will have it all right, I assure you. I 

 know all about soap-making. 



"There, now, she has gone, Leslie. Let us 

 see what is the matter with this soap." 



"Well, Manum, I think you want more 

 grease, for one thing; and, as your wife said, 

 the lye is too strong, for, as you see, I have 

 added one spoonful of water to two of soap, and 

 you see it is quite thick; and now by adding a 

 little grease it is fine soap." 



" Yes, that is just what I thought it needed 

 all the time. You see, I know all about making 

 soap; and all I have to do now is to add about 

 8 lbs. of grease and }i water, and it will be nice 

 soap, just as I expected. But, Leslie, don't tell 

 my wife that you suggested any of these addi- 

 tions, for she would surely accuse me of being 

 deficient in the art of soap-making." 



Bristol, Vt. 



[That water-tank for chickens is capital. 

 We have had similar devices to be set on the 

 ground, but somehow the chickens would 

 scratch dirt into them, or tip them over. But 

 they can't cut up any such caper when the 

 tank is hung from a stake. As an open-air 

 feeder for bees, no doubt it would do nicely 

 also.— Ed.] 



MARKETING CALIFORNIA HONEY. 



A bee-keepers' exchange proposed. 



By Rambler. 



" The honey market in Southern California," 

 as treated by Prof. Cook, on page 274 of Glean- 

 ings, is a topic of deepest interest to the pro- 

 ducers of this State; but it has a broader sig- 

 nificance, for the price of honey in California 

 touches the pockets of every producer in the 

 far East. 



In a recent letter, a New York friend writes, 

 " I wish you would keep your four-cent honey 

 in California." I have no doubt that our pro- 

 ducers would be pleased to accommodate our 

 friend by sending east only six-cent honey; 

 but the marketing of our product has fallen 

 into the hands of dealers, and it is for their 

 interest to bear the product to the lowest pos- 

 sible figure. We are thus running along in a 

 rut from which it will require much lifting 

 power to rescue us. 



The producers of citrus fruits found them- 

 selves in a similar rut with the dealers, and 



their products were borne down to ruinously j 

 low prices; hence the organization of the ex- 

 change. This organization has had to deal 

 with some obstacles. Wholesale shippers, local 

 buyers, and the whole tribe of middlemen, were 

 opposed to the exchange, and have tried to 

 break its influence— first, by causing a break in 

 the ranks of those who had promised to ship 

 through the exchange; and, next, by discredit- 

 ing the organization abroad. With but few 

 exceptions the patrons held to their organiza- 

 tion; and eastern dealers, finding the exchange 

 could fill their orders with a superior quality 

 of fruit, carloads of it began to move, and at 

 better prices than could be procured through 

 the local speculators; and at present the 

 exchange seems to be working upon a substan- 

 tialand permanent basis. It is no wonder, then, 

 that the honey-producer looks toward the 

 exchange for help and consolation to his 

 depleted pocketbook. 



In dealing with the honey question, the 

 methods of our fruit-men must be followed; 

 and it would be of vital importance for the 

 patrons to stand by the organization; and it 

 must be borne in mind that a great many bee- 

 keepers virtually barter away their rights be- 

 fore the honey is produced. The bee-keeper is 

 in straitened circumstances, and, going to 

 the local dealer, who, foreseeing this state of 

 things, provides a goodly pile of honey-cans. 

 The bee-keeper obtains the cans, giving the 

 dealer a lien upon his product. In order to 

 hold this class of bee-keepers the exchange 

 should take the place of the local dealer, and 

 have on hand a stock of cans. In fact, the 

 exchange could order all the cans needed in 

 certain districts. This fact would point to an 

 organization independent of the fruit-men. An 

 organization of this kind, having the control of 

 the shipping, could place the product in the 

 various markets at the best advantage, and at 

 times to suit the market. Such an organiza- 

 tion should be prepared to grade honey, and to 

 repack if advisable, to a certain extent, in 

 smaller packages suitable for the consumer. 



In looking at the marketing of honey, still 

 further we find another problem: When the 

 flowers yield abundantly, and our tanks and 

 cans are filled, we work forward and establish 

 a good trade. We are caught, however, in the 

 midst of our high hopes, with a season of total 

 failure, or the next thing to it. We have no 

 honey to ship, our trade lapses, and every lapse 

 puts us to the bottom of the hill again. The 

 only remedy in such a case would be the organ- 

 ization of many exchanges in the East; then 

 when one can not fill its accustomed markets 

 another could step in and help, so there may 

 be no serious lapse in the markets. We should 

 certainly be pleased to hold all of our four-cent 

 honey here; and in order to send only our six- 

 cent honey we must have tlie co-operation of 

 our Eastern brethren. That much good may 



