528 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



We are still running night and day, but ex- 

 pect to be pretty well caught up by the 17th. 

 The demand for shipping cases aud sections is 

 simply phenomenal. 



Under Convention Notices will be found a 

 letter from Dr. A. B. Mason. Secretary of the 

 United States Beekeepers' Union. He re- 

 quests me to state that the information he gave 

 on page 457, June 15, so far as it related to rail- 

 road rates, was not correct, and should be en- 

 tirely disregarded; and he further says that 

 what appears in Convention Notices is all right, 

 and correct. Our readers will please take 

 notice. 



HOW TO DRAW A CROWD TO SELL HONEY. 



In our previous issue I promised to toll how 

 to draw a crowd around groceries and other 

 places where honey is sold. The experiment 

 to which I shall refer was tried in Detroit. A 

 large tobacco-firm, who were using honey to 

 sweeten their tobaccos, and who desired to ad- 

 vertise the fact, employed a bee-keeper to place 

 an observatory hive just inside the show-win- 

 dow. On top of the hive was placed a row of 

 nicely tilled sections of honey. Of course, the 

 hive was arranged so the bees could not fly out, 

 and every few days the bees were given a rest, 

 and another set of frames was put in their 

 place. The experiment was a success in every 

 way. Great crowds congregated about the win- 

 dow, and the tobacco-store was -full of men who 

 wanted to sample the new honey tobacco. The 

 crowds became so great that the police had to 

 request the tobacco firm to discontinue their 

 novel mode of advertising. They practiced the 

 same method in another part of the city with 

 the same success, and were, sooner or later, 

 asked by the police to take the bees out of the 

 window, as It interfered with traffic. 



While Gleanings is opposed, first, last, and 

 all the time, to the use of tobacco in any form, 

 it recognizes that here is a legitimate mode of 

 advertising that may very often be employed 

 profitably by bee keepers. Prepare a hive hav- 

 ing one glass side. In the hive is placed one comb 

 of bees, the bees being shut off from the rest of 

 th-3 hive by a tight fitting division-board. As 

 only one side of a comb can appear at once, one 

 comb is sufficient. Over the frame of bees are 

 placed four nicely filled sections of honey to 

 which also the bees have access. The whole is 

 neatly encased in glass. The hive is shoved up 

 close to the show-window, and over it a neat 

 card: "These bees belong to John Jones. His 

 honey is for sale here. Inquire within." 



I said in our last issue, and elsewhere in this 



number, that, in view of the enormous honey 

 crop, bte-keepers should take every means pos- 

 sible to work up their home markets. Here is 

 a scheme. Try it and report. 



HOW SHALL WE KEEP UP PRICES ON HONEY? 



Reports are piling in every day saying that 

 there has been a most tremendous flow of hon- 

 ey fron white clover, and in some cases there 

 is still basswood to follow. In another column 

 we publish a few of these encouraging reports. 

 We have not room enough to put them all in, 

 but we give place to just enough to show which 

 way the wind blows. But this large crop of 

 honey places before bee-keepers a difficult 

 problem; namely, "How shall we keep up 

 prices'?" In relation to this I make an extract 

 from a letter just received from Harry Lathrop, 

 a prominent bee-keeper of Wisconsin. 



I fear a glut in tbe honey market, and ruined 

 prices. The whole of Southern Wisconsin is flood- 

 ed with white clover, and well-finished sections are 

 now on tbe market, and the white clover season not 

 half gone. Hasswuod, promising- a large crop, will 

 soon be in bloom. What can we do to save our 

 market? Farmers who do not make a specialty of 

 kee-keeping will sell their little crop at ruinously 

 low prices, and make the price for the bee-keeper 

 who depends on his honey crop alone. Supplies 

 and general cost of production are as high as ever. 

 Sections from most factories cost more this year 

 than last. If you could reach the people I refer to 

 you could advise them not to sell their honey too 

 low; but you can not reach many of them. No one 

 in this country ever saw as much white clover in 

 bloom at once as there is now. The year 1893 does 

 not compare; still, there is too much rain for strict- 

 ly flrstrclass work in storing. Though I have col- 

 onies that have given two full supers of extracted, 

 the quality seems to be excellent, regardless of the 

 rainy weather. H. Lathrop. 



Browntown, Wis., June 30. 



It is true, that farmers who make no special- 

 ty of bee-keeping will sell their crop at ruinous- 

 ly low prices. I do not know of any way to do 

 ex''ept to ascertain who have produced honey, 

 and go around personally and ask thera to aeree 

 not to sell lower than certain prices. This 

 would not be a combine nor a pool, but simply 

 an effort on the part of honest bee-keepers to 

 protect themsflves from ruinous prices. Such 

 a move will enable the farmer to realize, at the 

 same time, more for his honey. If there are 

 on'y one or two and their crops are not large it 

 might be well for you to buy them out. 



In our last issue I cautioned bee-keepers 

 against the policy of rushing their honey off to 

 the city markets, and urged every one to sell 

 around home as far as possible. When bee- 

 keepers flood the great centers with honey it 

 makes a glut on the market, and the published 

 prices go into every little town and hamlet of 

 the country; and, barring difference in freights, 

 those city prices are almost sure to put all oth- 

 er markets on the same level. 



A liberal use should be made of the honey- 

 leaflets. When there is over-production, stim- 

 ulate greater consumption. Bee-keepers ev- 

 erywhere should take honey-leaflets and dis- 

 tribute them around their locality and in their 

 home markets. Let people know ivhy honey is 



