1886 



GLEANINGS IN JJEE CULTUilE. 



;m7 



" Do you set your bees all out at one time, or on 

 the same day? " 



"No: I set eight or ten out in the morning of a 

 pleasant day, as soon as the mcrcurj' marks 45° in 

 the shade, and then as many more at about i 

 o'clock in the afternoon. In this way there is no 

 chance of robbing or mixing, as those hives arc 

 scattered about in the yard while but very few bees 

 are tlying from any save these hives, and sill gets 

 quiet before night or the middle of the day." 



" How about setting the colony on the same stand 

 it occupied the season before?" 



"I pay no attention to this; for by scattering 

 them about, and using the plan I do, all mark their 

 new location perfectly." 



"Wei!, good morning, as I see j'ou are in a hur- 



" Good-morning. Call again." 

 Borodino, N. Y., Apr. 17, 1S86. 



r.. M. DOOMTTF.E. 



DEVELOPING A HOME MARKET. 



NO NEED OF SENDING OUK HONEY TO THE CITT 

 MARKET. 



XN his article in Gleanings for Apr. 1, page 2'6. 

 ^ J. H. Martin says: '• These low prices are facts 

 ^i we have got to face." Now, what is it that 

 "*■ causes these low prices? Perhaps some will 

 saj', overproduction; but I think this is a mis- 

 take. I believe that the present low prices of hon- 

 ey are caused more by producers neglecting their 

 home markets, and sending the entire crop to the 

 large markets, than by overproduction. 



I wish that village of 10,000 )>op'alation which 

 friend M. speaks of were near here. I think I could 

 show him that honey could lio sold there, and at a 

 better price than in New York or any other large 

 market. In two small villages near here, of about 

 1000 population each, there was sold, last season, 

 over a ton of honey, netting the producer about V,i 

 cts. for comb, and 11 or 13 cts. for extracted. In 

 these same villages, a few years ago, scarcely a 

 pound of honey was sold. We have also sent honey 

 to other villages along the line of the A. & S. R. R., 

 Avhich has netted us about the same price. As 

 friend M. says, when a bee keeper has s:overal tons 

 he can not work it all off in lliis way; but every 

 pound that is sold in country villages is one pound 

 less to be sent to the large markets, which are al- 

 most always overstocked. 



1 know that it costs something to develop a mar- 

 ket in country places; but I believe that it pays in 

 the long run, for we get a lino of customers that 

 are reliable, and can be depended upon year after 

 year. We have customers who purchase whole 

 cases (30 lbs.) at once, for their own family use, 

 and their children do not "get sick," neither do 

 they " stop short off," as long as we supply them 

 with a good article of well-ripened honey. Our 

 experience has been, that there is always a demand 

 for the best; but a poor article sells slow at almost 

 any price. Some merchants refuse to sell honey at 

 first. They get an idea that it is bad to handle, and 

 will daub their other goods; but they can usually 

 be induced to try it when they sec that it is put up 

 in neat attractive cases, and that it is convenient 

 to handle. 



Since we can not compel people to buy our hon- 

 ey, we must try to prodvjce nothing but si first- 



class article in cvey respect, and then spare no 

 pains to put it up for market in the most conven- 

 ient and attractive manner possible. 

 Afton, Chenango Co., N. Y. O. G. Russell. 



TRUTH BOUND TO PREVAIL. 



TUIiNING THE TABLES. 



fOR the last three winters, after selling my own 

 crop of honey I have been selling for hec- 

 men in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois. Yes, 

 the train men would roll oft' the .500-lb. barrels, 

 right In broad daylight, for me. It was not 

 long fill it was reported that Lindky w:;s selling 

 artificial honey. I know it has made mc feel sad to 

 know that people would think so. Some thought I 

 was dccei^'ed in the honey: l)ut T have gone on 

 with my business, and I am glad to say that my 

 trade is on the increase, and falsehood is giving 

 way to truth; and I have gone from place to place 

 teaching the i>coplo that bee-men do not make hon- 

 ey, as stated in the papers. Y'es, 1 have gone to 

 nearly every house in a city of ir),000 inhabitants, 

 holding up the banner of ti'ufh for the bee-war. If 

 I have made but little monej', I hope that the bread 

 I have cast on the waters will be gathered many 

 days hence. 



Sometimes when I feel weary, and trade is dull, 

 I think of the day that is not far off when, instead 

 of selling from 3 to .50 lbs. at a place, I maj' sell 200 

 or .?00 lbs. or more. 'Now, this is the point I want to 

 make: That those of us who are poor, and need 

 money to pay our debts, should not wait for some 

 one to send for our honey, paying us a small 

 price for it, nor that we should send it to the 

 city to glut the market there. On the contrary, 

 let us take a sample, go right out among our 

 neighliors, and teach them to use hones', even 

 if it docs take work. Some, I know, are too 

 pi-oud to do this sort of work; but, "He that hum- 

 bleth himself shall be exalted; but he that exalt- 

 eth himself shall be abased." 



Now, when we get every small town, as well as the 

 large ones, well supplied with good honey, and the 

 vast multitudes in the country taught the truth in 

 regard to lionci', then I think it is time enough to 

 talk about " too much honey " raised. Yes, brother 

 Root, I think the day is not far off when we can sell 

 honey to large numbers of people who now use 

 none. 



I have been in the bee-business six years. I have 

 not done much at it, I know, yet; but it has been 

 my own fault, most^-. I shall not give it up, but 

 press on by the help of God. 



In one of our daily papers the other day I saw 

 something like this: That the honey sold by J. R. 

 Lindley, of Georgetown, was examined by Prof. 

 Cook, of the Agricultural College, Lansing, Mich., 

 and pronounced pure honey. Doubting parties sent 

 a sampl? of the above honey to friend Cook. Y''es, I 

 shall show the public that my honey is pure. 



Georgetown, III., Mar. 31, 1880. ,J. R. Lindley. 



Thanks, friend L. Your suggestions are ex- 

 cellent, and they apply not only to disposing 

 of a honey-crop, but to any sort of a crop. 

 It is everybody's business to use all proper 

 means to dispose of his produce, whether 

 he is a minuifacturcr, farmer, gardener, or 



