1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



133 



foreign sugar, whicli average 2^4 cents pei- 

 pound, will no longer be imposed, and a bounty 

 of 2 cents per pound will be given to domestic 

 producers of sugar, which includes the cane 

 sugar of Louisiana, the sorghum and beet sugar 

 of the Western States, and the maple sugar of 

 the East. This will undoubtedly stimulate 

 production in these lines, increase the supply of 

 sugar, and largely decrease the price, although, 

 with low prices, consumption will be larger, 

 and there will be doubtless more or less fluctua- 

 tions in price, due to this cause. 



Just how much lower sugars will be on the 



■ 1st of April than they are at the present time. 



it is impossible to say: but probably not less 



than I'o cents a pound, or. say. about 4n cents 



a pound for granulated sugar at wholesale. 



What influence the cheapness of other sweets 

 will have upon the consumption of honey, is a 

 difficult thing to estimate. Honey is an article 

 distinctive in character, appearance, and flavor. 

 People who are accustomed lousing honey want 

 honey and will have it, unless prices should be 

 held at exorbitant figures: but as cheap sugar 

 will undoubtedly stimulate the production and 

 consumption of attractive fruit-preserves in this 

 country, just as it has in England, and the 

 manufacturers of these preserves will undoubt- 

 edly continue to advertise and push them, it 

 will have some influence on the consumption of 

 honey. 



I would advise a continuance of the same in- 

 telligent study of the business that bee-keepers 

 have given it in the past. I know of no line of 

 business that has received more careful or stu- 

 dious attention than your business has during 

 the past few years. Every suggestion made by 

 distributors of your product, tending to make 

 it more attractive and convenient for consum- 

 ers, has been met. and the little busy bee has 

 been educated to work in a form calculated to 

 extend the consumption of his product. 



I have always felt much interest in ajiicul- 

 ture: and the" Thurber - Whyland Company, 

 of which I am president, will be glad to do all 

 in its powei- to forward your interests. With 

 regards and best wishes. 1 remain 



Faithfullv vours. 



New York, Jan. 'iO. 1891. ' F. B. THritBEK. 



The second one was read by Mr. Segelkin 

 himself, and is as follows: 



SHIPPING AND GRADING HONEY. 



Mr. President (ind Gentlemen: — I welcome 

 this opportunity with great pleasure, and will 

 describe, as definitely as possible, wliat our 

 market deuutnds. It is certainly to the interest 

 of the producer to put his product on the mar- 

 ket in the most attractive and salable style: 

 and we. as the sellers and distributors, are nat- 

 urally in a position to know exactly the wants 

 of our market. Receiving comb honey in large 

 quantities from all the honey-producing cen- 

 ters throughout the country', we get it in all 

 styles and shapes, and. in many instances, we 

 find there is room for vast improvement and 

 changes. In these days of sharp competition 

 in nearly all the branches of industry, it has 

 been found necessary to put the goods on the 

 market in very attractive style. Tiiis is mainly 

 the case with all kinds of food products, such 

 as canned goods, preserves, etc.. all of which are 

 handsomely labeled: and those which are put 

 up neatest will find the quickest sale. The 

 consuTni'r will always buy that which looks the 

 most appetizing. As these facts can not be 

 denied on staple goods, it is all the more neces- 

 sary to use the utmost care in putting up comb 

 honey in the most attractive style, because this 

 is regarded as a luxury— if not altogether, cer- 

 tainly to a very large extent. 



We give due credit to a large number of our 

 shippers who are up to the times, and who put 

 their honey up in first-class style. Their goods 

 always find ready sale at the highest market 

 prices. If they do not sell their product out- 

 right, they are sure of receiving returns within 

 a short time, and need not fear having their 

 honey carried for months or carried over the 

 entire season. We very often receive comb hon- 

 ey which is put u]) in bulky, awkward crates, 

 not even glass on the side of the crates, the 

 combs built without separators, so that it is al- 

 most impossible to take the combs from the crate 

 without injuring them. Such goods do not com- 

 pare favorably with first-class ones. They find 

 but slow sale, and prices have to be shaded con- 

 siderably to move it off. Still, these shippers gen- 

 erally expect highest prices, and are very often 

 dissatisfied and disappointed with the returns, 

 when the fault lies with themselves only. 



SINGI,E-TIEK CRATES KECOMMENDED: MARKING 

 WEIGHTS. 



For one-pound sections we recommend a sin- 

 gle-tier crate holding 24 or 25 sections. While 

 we are not opposed to the doubh^-tier crate, we 

 believe the single-tier is the more desirable— at 

 any rate, for unglassed honey. If some of the 

 combs in the upper tier start to leak, they will 

 drip over the combs in the bottom tier and soil 

 the whole crate. 



We often receive comb honey which is not 

 weighed at all. Others have only the gross 

 weight marked on the crate. Again, others 

 have gross and tare, but not the net weight; 

 and. again, some is marked in such small and 

 faint figures that the marks are scarcely legible. 



We received one lot this season in paper boxes, 

 which we supposed was not weighed, as it did not 

 bear any marks, nor could we find any marks as 

 to the grade of the honey. To determine which 

 was first and second grade white and buck- 

 wheat we started to open up the crates. Un- 

 der the cover we found a slip of paper, stating 

 the quality and weight. What the shipper's 

 reason was for putting the marks under the 

 cover, we are unable to say. No doubt he 

 thought it the right way to do. 



Very often the shi])pers will figure the weight 

 down to ounces, and mark the crate, for in- 

 stance. '-Gross. 28:06: tare, 4:04: net. 24:02. '" 

 These two ounces we have to throw off every 

 time: in fact, in some cases we are compelled 

 to throw off quarters in order to effect a sale. 

 All this can be and should be avoided by the 

 shii)per by simply changing some of the combs, 

 until the ci'ate will weigh an even pound or 

 half-pound: and by doing so he will receive 

 pay for every ounce of honey. We would rec- 

 ommend putting o)ily the net weight in plain 

 figures on the end of the crate. 



For glassed or unglassed honey we advise the 

 use of heavy paper in the bottom of tlie crates, 

 turned up about half an inch on the four sides. 

 If some combs should be broken down, this will 

 prevent the honey from leaking through the 

 crate. In addition to this it would be advisable 

 to lay strips of wood about '4 inch thick on the 

 paper, from side to side, for the combs to rest 

 on. This will prevent the honey which has 

 leaked down from broken comos from soiling 

 the good combs. Of course, it is not necessary 

 to go to this trouble when the honey is shipped 

 in paper boxes. 



PAPER BOXES FOR COMB HONEY: FOLDING 

 .STYLE NOT RECOMMENDED. 



For a paper box we recommend those now 

 used by nearly all the largest producers, who 

 use a paper box called, we believe, the original 

 Scofield box. of which you will find samples on 

 exhibition. It is made of heavy pasteboard, 

 and is strong enough to prevent breakage unless 



