18it7 



(JLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



409 



a place to put wheat; but If you want to mar- 

 ket a hog you must hunt a. buyer. Now don't 

 you see the point '?jOur honey Is always; hunt- 

 ing a market, like the Colorado.hog. 



Since, then, wo do not produce in quantities 

 that will cause the market to/.come to us,';we 

 must take measures to help it to-come.nWe 

 can organize in some way that we [may have 

 market-places that take our honey, put itinto 

 suitable shape, and find customers. GThereis 

 all the work of " iutroducing our goods;" that 

 the small producer can not do; but if it were 

 packed in regular cases and weights, so that 

 the traveling salesmen can represent the goods 

 and lake orders just as they do for other lines, 

 honey might be sold so as to make a demand 

 that we know nothing about now.^Thousands 

 upon thousands who never eat honey would do 

 so if it were to be had as conveniently as maple 

 syrup. I see no reason why honey may not be 

 put up in cheap cans as fruit is now put up. 

 Put up in this way it might go into the homes 

 of the poor people who never see honey. J We 

 have been working the fancy trade by the use 

 of glass and other expensive packages at such 

 prices that it must be a luxury, while the poor 

 people and laborers have been left out. 



There is yet the question of honey candying, 

 local markets, etc., that will receive attention 

 in our next article. 



Loveland, Col. 



[This, I am free to say, is one of the best 

 articles we have received this season. It dis- 

 cusses this very important subject of market- 

 ing extracted honey, not in the old stereotyped 

 ways, but on lines that are both sensibl and 

 feasible, and I hope every reader will take 

 pains to peruse it carefully. 



Before discussing some of the points, I would 

 stale that friend Aikin, either because of error 

 In figuring or because he had got hold of an old 

 catalog, has put the price of retail honey- 

 packages too high. The Pouder and Muth 

 jars, in lots of 100, cost a little over 3 cts., in- 

 stead of 4, as Mr. A. ha« it. Then there are 

 some other reductions that should be made on 

 the other figures. Square cans, in ten-box lots, 

 cost about 3^ cent per lb., for the honey, not 

 including freight, and the same can be shipped 

 from Chicago, St. Louis, or New Orleans. Two- 

 thirds of a cent per lb., including the freight 

 from a locality in Central Colorado, would not 

 be very far from correct. But very few would 

 have lb pay such freight. 



I grant that the selt-sealing honey-packages 

 seem rather expensive; but they are designed 

 for a fancy city trade. Some of the self-sealing 

 devices are patented, and that makes the pack- 

 ages expensive. Perhaps the most popular 

 honey-package is the Mason jar. The 3 lb. 

 size (1 quart) in gross lots, costs about lU cts.' 

 per lb , and the consumer rarely objects to the 

 expense of this jar, because it has an intrinsic 

 value in every household. In the case of any 

 other package, with the possible exception of 

 the jelly-tumblers, the package itself is of no 

 particular value after the honey is out of it. 



I have said that self-sealing devices made the 

 ordinary screw top packages expensive. In 

 the case of some, the price is 2 and 3 cts. per lb. 

 Without it, it would be less than half. It has 



occurred to me, in view of what Mr. Aikin has 

 said in the last paragraph, that we as bee- 

 keepers ought to make use of some standard 

 tin package, such as is used for canned toma- 

 toes, peaches, etc. Fruit-growers have long 

 since come to the conclusion that a :Mb. tin 

 can. made of light tin, having the fruit itself 

 soldered in, is the cheapest of any package they 

 could get. This same 3lb. package would hold 

 about 4K lbs. of honey, and would cost the 

 bee-keeper, who bought it in a large way, prob- 

 ably not to exceed a cent a pound for the honey 

 they would hold. But, you say, bee-keepers are 

 not skillful enough to solder these fruit cans 

 when filltdwith honey. Perhaps; but I know 

 a good many who are. We will suppose, for 

 instance, that Mr. A has bought .^OO cans, each 

 can to hold about 4Jij lbs. of honey when filled. 

 We will say that he has filled them, and is now 

 ready to have them soldered. I venture to say 

 he can get his tinsmith to solder the whole 

 batch in about one day's time; and the cost 

 ought not to exceed .$2.50, or half a cent a can. 

 Honey put up in this shape can be put up in 

 standard packages; and, when neatly labeled, 

 said label going clear around the can, will com- 

 pare favorably with any other goods on the 

 markets. They can be tipped upside down, 

 any way, and there will be no danger of leaking. 

 I grant that this idea of tin fruit-cans for honey 

 is not new; but I am of the opinion that it has 

 not received the recognition it deserves. 



But it would be no very great trick to do the 

 soldering oneself. Soldering-kits are furnished 

 very cheaply now. and the directions that go 

 with them make the whole thing plain. I have 

 known of a number of instances in California 

 where the bee-keepers soldered all their own 

 square cans. 



In Mr. Aikin's last paragraph he touches 

 upon a point that is by no means a visionary 

 scheme. The California Bee-keepers' Exchange 

 is organized, if I am not mistaken, for the very 

 purpose of seeking an outlet for the honey from 

 its members; that is to say. it is to take the 

 annual crops of honey from bee-keepers, in the 

 bulk, and put them in uniform packages of 

 various sizes for the general market. Such a 

 scheme ought to be favorably considered by the 

 bee-keepers of the East; and I believe it would 

 be well for the United States Bee-keepers' 

 Union to discuss the matter at its nexlmeeting. 



Let us now consider some of the advantages. 

 One large packing-house, or, if you please, sev- 

 eral of them, scattered at strategic points, could 

 buy up the honey from bee-keepers in every 

 direction, in the bulk form. If uniform pack- 

 ages were agreed upon, and this honey were 

 put into such packages, with neat labels, and a 

 guarantee of absolute purity, it would do much 

 to help bee-keepers secure better prices. I 

 know of one large under-buyer who mixes his 

 strong-flavored honey with that which is milder 

 flavored, thus making a honey that is both uni- 

 form and pleasant. One honey-buyer mixes 

 alfalfa and strong basswood, and calls it" lin- 

 cerne." The alfalfa alone sometimes has a 

 flavor that is loo mild, and the basswood is 

 sometimes too strong. Combining the two 

 makes a llavnr t>ial is just right. You see the 

 point is here: A large packing-house could take 

 the honey from several sections of the country, 

 and combine them in such a way as to make 

 one kind of honey of uniform flavor, and thus 

 it would bring a good price. I do not mean to 

 say that buckwheat should be mixed with 

 clover, hut that two or three grades of amber 

 might be mixed, or two or three grades of 

 white honey, and both the white and the amber 

 would be much the better. I hope this ques- 

 tion will be thoroughly discussed.— Ed.] 



