84 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



EeB. 



thinking about moving there. Friend Muth gave an 

 account of his experience in handling honey, and 

 gave some valuable points to bee-keepers. The bee- 

 keepers of Kentucky gave the visiting bee-men a 

 cordial reception, and made things pleasant for them 

 during their short stay. They had a very nice dis- 

 play of honey and bees, and friend Wilson had a nice 

 display of Italian queens. The managers were lack- 

 ing in one thing, and that was the' small amount of 

 honey they had on exhibition. As friend Muth re- 

 marked, they should have had a stack of honey as 

 high as the ceiling. 



I went from Louisville to Cincinnati, and called on 

 friend Muth. He was not at home, but one of his 

 clerks showed me his store and bees, and then fetch- 

 ed me down in his cellar, and there I saw honey — 

 barrels of it piled four tiers high. I came to the con- 

 clusion that friend Muth does a very large business 

 In extracted honey, and has a large supply of hives 

 and apiarian implements. 



Bee-keeping is making great headway around here. 

 We had a fine display of bees, honey, and apiarian 

 implements at our annual St. Louis Fair. There 

 were six bee-keepers represented this year, whereas 

 at the fair previous there were but two. Friend 

 Flanagan had a grand display of beps, honey, and 

 apiarian implements, and took first premium lor the 

 best display of apiarian implements. Messis. Back 

 & Swallow had a very nice display also, and took 

 first premium for the best honey-knife. It is a model 

 knife, and serves both for cutting and uncapping. 

 It Is their own make. They took second premium 

 for apiarian implements. Friend Little took first 

 premium for best display of Italian bees. 



UlCHARD GRINSELL. 



Baden, Mo., Jan. 16. 188t. 



ilt^ "§r€imrU'" 



This dep.artment Is to be kept for the benefit of those who j 



avoid being too personal. 



m 1. ROOT:— On the isth of December I re- 

 ^^^Q ceived a postal from you, in which you 



— "" said, "We send you catalogue and price 

 list, etc." I suppose you meant to say, " We will 

 send when it suits our convenience," and from past 

 experience I have found it requires a good deal of 

 patience to wait your time. If you have sent me 

 one I have not received it; and if it suits your con- 

 venience, and you see proper, you may send me 

 one. John H. Womelsdorf. 



Huntingdon, Pa., Jan. U, 1884. 



Now, friend W., that is rather rough on a 

 body. We have not only been laboring to 

 get up that price list, btit we have been la- 

 boring to tind people like yourself who want 

 them ; and i have also been laboring with 

 onr clerks to say, in writing to a customer, 

 "We have sent you a price list." And then 

 1 have labored with them again on the im- 

 portance of being always truthful; do not, 

 under any circumstances, tell anybody you 

 have done a thing when you simply mean 

 you are goirKj to do it. Jf you let yourselves 

 get into a way of taking even that little lib- 

 erty in speech, you will soon get to telling 

 downright lies. I should not like to say 

 right here, before present company, that I 



know by experience ; but I will say this : I 

 do know of business firms who used to say 

 goods were sent, only to pacify customers, 

 when they meant they were going to send 

 them the very next thing. Do you know 

 what became of them ; They soon failed in 

 business, and I know of no exception to this 

 rule. Our clerks are doing better, friend W., 

 and I do not believe you will ever have any 

 more such experience. 



While I am about it, friends, there is an- 

 other thing 1 want to talk about. The trade 

 in the ABC books has got to be a pretty big 

 business, and a great many people hear of 

 the book, and send for it without stating 

 delinitely whether they want a cloth-covered 

 book, price .S 1.2-5, by mail, or only a paper- 

 covered book, price .SI Ou, by mail. It is true, 

 we can generally guess bv the amount of 

 money; but sometimes, or, in fact, quite of- 

 ten, the order comes with money for other 

 goods, and our friend does not mention the 

 price at all. Which should we send him V 

 Jf we send a pajier cover, he often gets offen- 

 ded, and sends it back, saying, " Mr. Root, 

 .vou ought to have known I did not want an 

 expensive book like that in paper covers, to 

 get dog's-eared and torn up in a little while." 

 If we sent cloth, the beauty of the cover and 

 l)inding generally makes them satisfied, even 

 if they did mean to have a cheaper one. But 

 there are exceptions even to this, as the fol- 

 lowing will show : 



Ifr. JZooL— Your card calling for 25 cents due on 

 A B C i-i at hand; and in reply I will say that I sent 

 you one dollar for the book, and it seemed to me 

 then, and does yet, that it required but little "horse 

 sense" to know that I would not ask for credit, and 

 only wanted my money's worth, and this is especial- 

 ly the case as you had the book for that price. Send 

 me a dollar ABC, and 1.5 cents for return postage, 

 and I will return the A B C I first received. 



New Klchmond,Wis., Jan. 10. F. N. Blackman. 



Now you see, friends, just one little word 

 in ordering would make it all plain and 

 pleasant. When you order an A B C book 

 just say cloth or paper, as the case may be. 



Here is another friend who got offended 

 in some way. And, by the way, he makes 

 the (irst complaint about the A 13 C book 

 that I think I ever got ; that is, the first one 

 who said he was disappointed in the book. 

 We have had thousands of commendations, 

 but only one that I know of the other way. 



I thought the amount I sent was sufficient indica- 

 tion of the style of book I wanted. I don't want to 

 invest any more in it. You can make the exchange 

 if you desire it, or send back the money, and I'll 

 send you the book, or let it stand as it is, just as 

 you choose. 1 am disappointed in the book. It 

 seems to be mainly advertisements of Mr. So-and- 

 S.)'8 planer, Mr. So-and-So's honey-pail, and Mr. 

 Somebody's something else. 



Inslee Deaderick. 



Louisville. Tenn., Dec. 31, 1883. 



To be sure, friend D., the ABC book 

 tells about other folks' things. You didn't 

 suppose 1 was smart enough to make every 

 thing, or tell how to do it, that pertains to 

 bee culture, did you? Almost everybody 

 who buys the A J3 C book wants to know 

 where he can get the things mentioned 

 therein ; therefore I tell about Mr. So- 



