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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 1. 



RETAILING FROM SQUARE CANS. 



IS GLUCOSE A LEGITIMATE ARTICLE OF COM- 

 MERCE ■? 



By B. McKnigM. 



"Selling Extracted Honey;" "Valuable Se- 

 crets." Such is the caption over an article 

 published in Gleanings over the signature 

 of Mr. Chalon i^owls, and copied into the 

 American Bee Journal. Doubtless Mr. Fowls 

 is satisfied he has discovered the secret of 

 selling extracted honey. Let us look up for a 

 moment what he considers these secrets to 

 be. It is to be " of the finest flavor, and in color 

 the whitest." These are certainly requisite in 

 the rapid sale of honey. It is to be liquid in 

 form — this is also desirable. Then it is to be 

 put up in flint glass jars holding a pint each, 

 and in third-pint jelly-glasses. This is not a 

 good way to sell much honey rapidly. At the 

 present price of honey it is folly to put it up in 

 any kind of package that compels one to sell it 

 to the trade at what Mr. Fowls says he charges 

 for it — 23 cents a pint. True, the Mason jar is 

 worth its value to the purchaser; but as a rule 

 people won't buy honey or any other article of 

 food because of the character or quality of the 

 vessel that contains it. It is very necessary 

 that this should be neat, clean, and attractive. 

 I think bee-keepers may settle down to the con- 

 viction that, all things considered, tin vessels 

 are the best and most economical receptacles 

 for extracted honey when put on the market. 

 These should be of such size as to meet the re- 

 quirements of the purchaser. Few people 

 care to buy more than 20 pounds of honey at a 

 time, and five people will buy five pounds for 

 one who will buy twenty pounds. For the gen- 

 eral retail trade a 20- pound package is the larg- 

 est needed. More extracted honey can be sold 

 when put up in from five to ten pound tins 

 than in any other form. 



For some years past I have found a seven- 

 pound square tin package the most popular 

 with both the merchant and his customer. A 

 few years ago they retailed readily for a dollar 

 each. I never could understand why the or- 

 thodox 60-pound tin is so generally used to put 

 up honey in. It certainly is not a suitable 

 package for the retail trade. 



A dozen years ago or so I was in a neighbor- 

 ing town. While there I called upon a grocer 

 who happened to receive an order for two 

 pounds of honey while I was present. He 

 dragged a 60-pound tin of candied honey from 

 under the counter, and through a four or five 

 inch opening in the top he proceeded to extract 

 the 2 lbs. of extracted honey asked for. Before 

 he was through with the job his knuckles were 

 daubed with honey to an extent calculated to 

 make him forswear handling such stuff in fu- 

 ture. I then and there made up my mind I would 

 never send such a package to a grocer, and I 



never have. The best plan is to put it up in 

 quantities of from 5 to 10 lbs. I am sure the 

 lady who ordered the 2 lbs. I have referred to 

 would have bought a 5-lb. package if the mer- 

 chant had had It. 



When liquefying honey, Mr. Fowls tells us 

 he never allows the water surrounding the ves- 

 sel containing it to boil. Can he assign any 

 good reason for such caution? It is not wise to 

 allow honey to boil; but honey can not be 

 made to boil by surrounding it, or keeping it 

 surrounded with boiling water. It requires a 

 good deal higher temperature than 212° to 

 cause honey to boil. 



I should like to enter my protest against the 

 frequency with which bee-keepers (Mr. Fowls 

 included) refer to glucose as " vile stuff." Glu- 

 cose is not vile stuff. It is a legitimate article 

 of commerce, and its production and sale are 

 as honorable as the production and sale of any 

 other article of commerce when sold for what 

 it is. We are apt to boast of the healthfulness 

 of honey. The sugar of glucose is chemically 

 identical with the saccharine matter of honey. 

 It, too, ought to be healthful. 



R. McKnight. 



Owen Sound, Ont., Canada. 



[Square cans are used very largely by pro- 

 ducers for putting up honey in bulk, in the 

 same way that barrels are used; but, unfortu- 

 nately, some climates will not admit of the use 

 of these latter, owing to the shrinkage of the 

 staves. In cases where the square cans are 

 used for retailing from, a honey-gate should be 

 used, costing only 15 cts. ; and the producer who 

 does not supply his grocer with such a gate is 

 very shortsighted. When a grocer daubs his 

 knuckles as you describe, just because he has 

 not a proper appliance, both he and his cus- 

 tomer are liable to become disgusted with the 

 whole business. Perhaps in many instances it 

 would be wise to let the grocer have only 2, 5, 

 and 10 lb. cans of honey, and perhaps he would 

 daub his knuckles any way, for some men are 

 always daubing. 



I believe nearly all our readers will take ex- 

 ceptions to your last paragraph; at least, from 

 a bee-keepers' standpoint it can hardly be re- 

 garded as orthodox. In the first place, I can 

 not agree with you that glucose is not "vile 

 stuff." The article that is ordinarily used for 

 purposes of adulteration is hardly fit to put into 

 the stomach of a pig, let alone that of a human 

 being. A few years ago, in testing samples of 

 glucosed honey I made myself sick, and it took 

 me nearly a week to get over the effects of 

 sampling the "vile stuff." It was nauseating, 

 to say the least; and even now it brings to my 

 mind the horribly nasty taste that clung to me 

 for days after tasting it. I grant that there is 

 a glucose of very fine quality that does not 

 taste bad; but we seldom find such used as an 

 adulterant, because the cheaper grade when 

 put into honey looks just as well, and fools the 

 uninitiated just as easily as the better grade. 



You say, further, that glucose is a " legitmate 

 article of commerce;" I don't know how you 

 make thai out. If glucose were not used for 

 adulterating syrups and honeys it is doubtful 

 if there would be a glucose-factory on the con- 

 tinent. It is true, glucose is sold in bulk for 

 what it is; but to whom, pray, does it go ? To 

 the mixers, who will put it into syrups and 



