1897 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



117 



it; but there is too much of the " party " and 

 "spoils" element to get what we want. I am 

 sure that many bee-keepers throughout the 

 country would gladly do the work if they were 

 furnished with the facilities. Many are now 

 doing j ust such work on their " own hook ; " but 

 the good results are lost by not having the 

 work complete and systematized, and because 

 there is no way to get the results together, and 

 compared, etc. 



I have brought up this subject now that 

 perhaps the fraternity may get together in 

 some way the coming season in some thorough 

 observations in regard to the pursuit. I must 

 say that apiarists are not organized as they 

 should be; that our product is practically 

 turned loose to get to the consumer in a hap- 

 hazard manner. Comb honey is much better 

 marketed than the extracted, but there is need 

 of reform in both. I propose, however, to dis- 

 cuss this matter later, so leave it here. 



PKINCIPLES OF HONEY CONSUMPTION 

 SIBLE APPLICATIONS. 



ONE-OTTNCE HONEY-PACKAGES. 



POS- 



By F. L. Thompson. 



Communications to the bee- papers on selling 

 honey are apt to be misleading on this point. 

 They always tell how people who at first said, 

 "I don't like honey," after being persuaded to 

 take some of a first-class quality changed their 

 minds, and ever afterward liked it very much, 

 and bought in quantities. This is no doubt 

 true so far as it goes. But there are plenty of 

 people who quickly get tired of the very finest 

 honey, when they try to eat it according to the 

 mistaken notion thai it is always a staple food. 

 Why not recognize this truth? One woman, 

 after several times buying my best honey, both 

 comb and extracted, said she would not want 

 any more that winter, as her family -had be- 

 come tired of it, and preferred maple syrup on 

 their buckwheat cakes. I couldn't blame her, 

 for I prefer maple syrup myself for that pur- 

 pose. The truth is. there is a large class of 

 people to whom honey is a radically different 

 article of food from syrup, and can not possibly 

 be eaten in the same way and with the same 

 relish. People who belong to the other class, 

 those whose palates and stomachs accept honey 

 as a superfine syrup, to be consumed in like 

 quantities, will be surprised at this assertion, 

 and think there is something wrong about it. 

 But in this matter they should not judge others 

 by their own experience. Articles by " Novice" 

 on pages 93 and 300 of Gleanings for 1895 

 recognize the true state of affairs. De gustibus 

 non est disputandum. 



What applies to private tables applies also to 

 hotels and restaurants. But in applying small 

 Individual portions as a remedy, we are met 



with a difficulty, though not an insuperable 

 one. There is no satisfactory package at pres- 

 ent available. It must be quite cheap, for the 

 quantity of honey is small; it must not be ex- 

 pected to be returned for refilling, for I am in- 

 formed that restaurant people are such a care- 

 less set as to put this out of the question ; hence 

 it must be of a kind that can be discarded after 

 getting the honey out. Glass is too expensive. 

 Perhaps hardened paper would do. Or possibly 

 a special size and shape of gelatine capsules 

 (of course, not to put in the mouth, but simply 

 as a package) could be ordered from manufac- 

 turing cdemists. They would show off the 

 honey nearly as well as glass. Why should 

 not some of the supply firms take hold of this 

 thing and keep such packages in stock ? The 

 first step is the hardest. Many bee-keepers, 

 who would be deterred by the bother of a 

 special order, might try this if a suitable pack- 

 age were within easy reach. Besides, it would 

 thus be cheaper. 



Supposing we had a suitable package, hold- 

 , ing, say, an ounce, selling at 25 cents a dozen 

 (retailing at three cents, or two for five), what 

 would be the advantages of selling honey in 

 this way? It would do away with the surfeit- 

 ing evil. It would give the customer a good 

 taste, and make him want another next time. 

 The adhesiveness of honey would not get a 

 chance to assert itself in the minds of the pow- 

 ers that settle whether honey shall or shall not 

 be consumed, for when once presented in small 

 portions it is pretty sure to be eaten. The 

 dish-washer would not get mad, nor the propri- 

 etor grumble at the added labor which side 

 dishes usually impose. It would also put hon- 

 ey in the right shape to be sold to those grocer- 

 ies that locate opposite schoolhouses, and in 

 general would make it a valuable addition to 

 lunches. 



By being made square inside, and as wide at 

 the mouth as in the body, the package would 

 also do for comb honey. The bee-keeper, for 

 30 cents or more a pound net, could well afford 

 to use shallow frames instead of sections, cut 

 up the comb with a square tin plug-cutter, and 

 put the pieces into his paper jars or capsules — 

 certainly much easier to do than to prepare 

 five-cent sections, as was talked of some time 

 ago. This plan would also be the most satis- 

 factory solution of the unfinished-section prob- 

 lem, for the greater portion of the honey (by 

 weight) in such sections is finished, and as good 

 as any to take plugs out of. It would also be a 

 good way to use up all partially defective sec- 

 tion honey, thus raising the grade of what 

 remains. 



But suppose these inducements did not exist: 

 there is another cogent reason for working up 

 this kind of trade in connection with the ordi- 

 nary methods. It would be the best kind of 

 advertisement. In this way we could bring 



