482 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1. 



able variation in the price in the same market 

 of a single grade of honey. In the Bee-Tieepers'' 

 Revieiv for March, now before me, I notice that 

 R. A. Burnett, of Chicago, one of the largest 

 wholesale dealers in the country, quotes 

 " Fancy " at 11 to 13 cts., while No. 1 white he 

 quotes at 10— as much difference between dif- 

 ferent lots of "Fancy "as between "Fancy" 

 and No. 1. 



Batterson & Co., of Buffalo, in same issue of 

 Review, quote " Fancy" 9 to 10 cts., and No. 1 

 white 8 to 9— quite as much difference in price 

 in the same grade as between different grades. 



Middlebury, Vt., May 7. 



[For some little time before the article above 

 came to hand, we had been having some cor- 

 respondence with a number of bee-keepers, 

 asking for their private opinion in regard to 

 the grading rules adopted by us and other pub- 

 lishers of bee-journals. Up until a year or so 

 back there had been no grading-rules in force, 

 and it finally occurred to me that the bee-jour- 

 nals might themselves adopt a set of rules 

 without reference to any convention or organi- 

 zation, and I selected, for Gleanings there- 

 fore, those prepared by Dr. C. C. Miller, which 

 I herewith give you at this time along with the 

 Washington North American grading side by 

 side. 



Washington. 

 Fanct.— All sections to be well 

 filled; combs straight, of even 

 thickness, and firmly attached 

 to all four sides ; both wood and 

 comb unsoiled by travel-stain, 

 or otherwise ; all the cells seal- 

 ed except the row of cells next 

 the wood. 



No. 1.— All sections well filled, 

 but combs uneven or crooked, 

 detached at the bottom.or with 

 but few cells unsealed; both 

 wood and comb unsoiled by 

 travel-stain or otherwise. 



In addition to this the honey 

 is to be classified according to 

 color, using the terms white, 

 amber, and dark. That is, there 

 will be " fancy white," " No. 1 

 dark," etc. 



ight. 



Miller. 

 F.ANCT.— All combs str 

 white, well filled . firmly f 

 ed to wood on all four sides ; 

 all cells sealed; no pollen, pro- 

 polis, nor travel stain. 



No. 1.— Wood well scraped, or 

 entirely free from propolis; 

 one side of the section sealed 

 with white cappings, free from 

 pollen ,and having all cells seal- 

 ed except the line of cells next 

 the wood; theother side white, 

 or but slightly discolored, with 

 not more than two cells of pol- 

 len, and not more than ten 

 cells unsealed beside the line 

 of cells touching the wood; the 

 comb fastened to the wood on 

 four sides. 



No. 2.— Three-fourths of the 

 total surface must be filled and 

 sealed; wood well scraped of 

 propolis. 



No. 3,— Must weigh at least 

 half as much as a full-weight 

 section. 



For the classes of honey I 

 would suggest the four already 



After 1 started to put these in force for 

 Gleanings, Mr. Hutchinson, of the Review, 

 wrote, asking why we should adopt a neiv set 

 of rules when the Washington grading had 

 been adopted by him for two years, without 

 one word of dissatisfaction or complaint. This 

 seemed like a clincher, and accordingly I threw 

 Dr. Miller's grading overboard (and I guess I 

 must have shut my eyes when I did it). I 

 adopted the Washington grading, and immedi- 

 ately suggested the wisdom on the part of the 

 publishers of the other journals to help us put 

 the grading rules into force. Some of the 

 brethren (not the editors) demurred, but (again 

 I shut my eyes, I think) demurrers I would not 

 accept any more, because I thought it was high 

 time that we should try something, and not 

 keep continually " talking," and doing nothing. 



Well, two years have elapsed. The Wash- 

 ington grading has been tried and found want- 

 ing; referring to which, one intelligent bee- 

 keeper, in a private letter, says: 



"The first thing that strikes me is a feeling 

 of wonder that a set of honest and intelligent 

 men could agree to the Washington grading. 

 I can see how intelligent rascals or honest ig- 

 noramuses might do so, but not men both in- 

 telligent and honest." 



Now that I have my eyes wide open I do not 

 know whether to call myself an "honest igno- 

 ramus" or one belonging to the other class. 

 Whichever it is, I am in good company. Broth- 

 er Crane himself was present in Washington 

 when the grading rules were adopted, and so 

 was Mr. Secor, Mr. Frank Benton, and a score 

 of others; and later on was added to the list 

 the editors of the various bee-journals. 



Mr. Byron Walker at the very outset showed 

 that the Washington rules were drawing things 

 down too fine— that it was impossible to grade 

 honey strictly according to them. To prove 

 his assertion he actually advertised to pay .?1.00 

 a pound for " fancy " honey graded strictly ac- 

 cording to the Washington grading. I was al- 

 most inclined to refuse his advertisement, for I 

 hardly thought the man was in his right mind 

 to offer such a price on honey. But you sef> he 

 had his eyes open (though mine were shut) and 

 knew what he was doing. It is needless to say 

 that he failed to get a single pound of honey. 

 I suspect that, if we had sat right down, as Mr. 

 Crane did. and actually tried the rules in Wash- 

 ington, that city wnere wisdom sits supreme, 

 we should have seen they were practically good 

 for nothing. 



I asked some of the brethren, with whom I 

 had been having correspondence, to give us 

 their ideas regarding the rules already in force, 

 and to make such amon Tients as. in their 

 judgment, would make thfin all right. The 

 following letter from Byron Walker has been 

 lying on my desk for some time, and will ex- 

 plain itself: 



I find it quite difficult to make any amend- 

 ments in a few words that would give my ideas 

 of what the grading should be. Mr. Thomp- 

 son's suggestions are mainly in the right direc- 

 tion; but I think it necessary, in order that 

 such rules be of practical use, that more defi- 

 nite terms be used with reference to the matter 

 of discolored and unsealed combs. In fact, I 

 see no reason for materially altering the crit- 

 icism in my article on this subject, published 

 in the American Bee Journal, vol. 28, page 817. 

 Certainly more than two grades are necessary 

 to include the bulk of marketable comb honey; 

 but the suggested fourth grade could be dis- 

 pensed with. I would suggest that combs va- 

 rying considerably in thickness, but which 

 would otherwise find a place in the fancy grade, 

 be assorted so that they will not vary in weight 

 more than two or three ounces in any shipping- 

 case. I have no doubt that too much stress 

 has been placed upon sections being entirely 

 free from propolis, in order to be ranked as fan- 

 cy. The fact is, while reasonably neat sections 

 are quite desirable, the suspicion of there being 

 manufactured comb honey on the market is so 

 prevalent, both among grocers and consumers, 

 that at least a slight soiling from propolis will, 

 as a rule, help rather than detract from the 

 sale of even the fancy grade. 



Chicago, 111. B. Walkek. 



