694 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



All queries sent in for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked, " Kor Our Question-Box." 



Question No. 76.— (a) Sh»uld the honey-exhihitor 

 tru to sell hiiney at the fair? {b) In order to make such 

 sell) mi n success, what form and size of packaoe has 

 been found to " take " best? 



I think not. H. K. Boardman. 



Yes. Very small ones. A. J. Cook. 



a. Yes. b. In small and attractive packag-es. 



Paul L. Viallon. 



a. I see no objection, b. 1 have had no experi- 

 ence. E. E. Hasty. 



I am not posted in this matter, so I leave it to 

 those who are, to answer. G. M. DooLiTTiiE. 



a. Why not? b. Different in different localities; 

 but In general, small packages, one pound or less. 



C. C. MlI.LEK. 



a. That depends upon his object in exhibiting at 

 all. b. I do not know, because ] have never tried 

 it. Geo. Grimm. 



a. We never tried it. b. We should think tin pails 

 best for extracted, and pasteboard boxes for comb 

 honey. Dadant & Son. 



a. Yes, unless he is going to lose prestige among 

 dealers by so doing, b. The smaller and most at- 

 tractive first-class packages. James Heddon. 



Please excuse me from answering the questions 

 relating to fairs, as I do not remember to have at- 

 tended a fair since I commenced keeping bees, and 

 am therefore too ignorant to answer them intelli- 

 gently. P. H. Elwood. 



If circumstances generally are favorable, yes; 

 otherwise, no. I always felt a little delicacy in of- 

 fering goods for sale at a fair. It seems to savor 

 too much of the mercenary, where public' interests 

 should be the principal aim. R. Wilkin. 



a. Yes. b. Localities differ. At the Tri-State Fair 

 at Toledo, extracted honey sells better than comb; 

 and although some is sold in glass, a larger quanti- 

 ty is disposed of in pails, holding from twenty-flve 

 cents' to a dollar's worth. Dr. A. B. Mason. 



We don't attend the fairs. If we did, we would 

 go prepared to sell honey; would take 5 and 10 gal- 

 lon kegs, and a box, sa.y .50 nests, of tin pails— pints, 

 quarts, 3 quarts, 3 and 4 quarts. As we don't raise 

 comb honey, we would not take any. E. France. 



a. Yes. This should be one of the main objects 

 of the exhibit — not simply on account of the honey 

 that may be disposed of there, but because custom- 

 ers may be secured who may prove permanent 

 ones, and because such dealings teach the general 

 public to buy honey, b. Pound sections in paper 

 boxes, and the smaller packages of extracted hon- 

 ey, style to suit locality. All should be neat and 

 attractive, with no chance of daubing. The Har- 

 mer .5-cent section should sell well. 



James A. Green. 



Queries No. 76 to 80 inclusive relate to a subject 

 on which I can not give the results of practical ex- 

 perience, as I have had none, and I take it that this 

 department is not a suitable place to air theories. 



Mr. J. W. Bittenbender, of Knoxville, Iowa; Mr. 

 A. J. Norris, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Mr. H. E. 



Kimball, , Iowa, have all had much success in 



making large exhibits at the Iowa State Fair for 

 years, and they could give your readers valuable 

 information if they would. O. O. Poppleton. 



Question No. 18.— What do you consider a fair 

 premium for the best sample of (a) comti honey; for the 

 best sample of (/>) extracted; for (c) the best and largest 

 display of Ijoth comb and extracted; or (d) best colony 

 of bees; for (c) best hive; for (f) beM extractor; for (0) 

 best smoker, when the articles named are to be exhibit- 

 ed at the county fair? 



Let some one answer who knows more about it. 



Geo. Grimm. 



a, $1.00; b, Sl.OO; c, $5.00; d, *2.00; c, $1.00; f, $1.00; 

 g, .50 cts. E. F range. 



We should think that a. It, and c deserved $5.00 

 each, and d, e, f, and g, about $3.00. 



Dadant & Son. 



a, $3.00; b, $3.00; c, $5.00; d, $,3.00; e, $1.00; f, 

 $1.00; g, $.50. Best exhibition of every thing, 

 $5.00. A.J.Cook. 



This not only depends on the managers, but ac- 

 cording to the population and the cash available 

 for the purpose. Paul L. Viallon. 



They should be in proportion to premiums in oth- 

 er departments. Some societies are able to and do 

 pay higher premiums than others. 



H. R. Boardman. 



a, $2.00; b, $2.00; c, $10 00 to $25.00. I do not think 

 cash premiums should be offered for hives or im- 

 plements unless they are for the best collection. 



James A. Guk.f.n. 



In regard to fairs I have always been a " hostile 

 Indian." If you get me to name the prices, I fear 

 you would see only a dreary array of $0.00; $0.00; 

 $0.00. E. E. Hasty. 



That depends a great deal on the value of the ex- 

 hibitor's time. It would take a big premium, and 

 almost a certainty of getting it, to tempt me to go 

 to a fair and leave a paying business at home. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A large county of 50,000 population could proba- 

 bly give three times as much as a small county 

 with 15,000; but an average county should offer, 

 perhaps, a, $3.00; b, $2.00; c, $6.00; d, $4.00; e, $3.00; 

 f, $3.00; g, $1.00. R. Wilkin. 



I couldn't answer this (juestion, having had very 

 little experience and less interest in the matter. I 

 have noticed that the producer who is always 

 spending his time and energy looking after premi- 

 ums loses more than if he had put it somewhere 

 else. James Heddon.' 



a, $1.00; b, $1.00; c, $3.00; d, I wouldn't have such. 

 Who can tell the value of bees by looking at them? 

 e. Out of place also; f, perhaps diploma; g. hardly 

 any one will compete— only a dealer, and he will 

 exhibit as an advertisement. Still, 35 or 50 cts. pre- 

 mium would make sure of an exhibit. 



C. C. Miller. 



The amount of premiums for each class or article 

 named depends entirely on the strength and re- 

 sources of each agricultural society that gives the 

 fair; but the proportion of premiums to each is very 

 important. Hives, extractors, and smokers, are 

 usually exhibited for purposes of sale and adver- 

 tising, and need little or no premiums except diplo- 

 mas. Neither should the premiums be large ori 



