'84 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1, 



are ruining our reputations as men. Away 

 with such kind of business ! 



I should like to mention one more case. 

 Not long ago I drove out of town to a bee- 

 keepers' place to buy some comb honey. I 

 got a few cases picked out, then, looking up, 

 saw a case up on a shelf that looked very nice, 

 and asked if I could have that. He said, 

 " No. That is some very nice sections I have 

 assorted out to face up with." Now, brother 

 bee-keepers, what do you think of this kind 

 of business? I won't mention this man's 

 name, but he lives eleven miles north of Kings- 

 ton, N. Y. ; and if he should see this in print 

 it might do him good. 



Kingston, N. Y. 



[Mr. Snyder's arraignment of bee-keepers 

 seems a little severe. I can not think that 

 even a majority of our fraternity are guilty of 

 some of the things that he so justly condenms. 

 However that may be, I am afraid there is 

 truth in much thit he says — seldom smoke 

 without some fire. It is certainly true that 

 commision men are not entirely to blame for 

 some of the difficulties that arise between 

 them and bee-keepers. 



It is easy — oh, so easy! — to face cases of 

 comb honey. I do not think bee-keepers 

 have any intention whatever of deceiving 

 when they unconsciously, on seeing a nice 

 box of honey, put it next to the glass. They 

 do not put it there because they wish to con- 

 vey the impression that all the honey which 

 shows is of that character, but because the 

 • honey is beautiful, and they wish to put it 

 where its heaiitv can show. We have had sev- 

 eral lots of comb honey shipped us lately from 

 different bee-keepers from widely separated 

 localities, but I do not think there was any 

 evidence of "facing" any of the lots that 

 were sent to us. 



If bee-keepers are guilty of this one sin they 

 are no worse than farmers. A year or so ago 

 I was in one of our large commission houses 

 when a carload of apples was received and 

 opened. As a lid was lifted off I remarked, 

 ' ' My ! what beauties ! ' ' 



"Oh! they will not look like that all the 

 way down," said the clerk, with a smile. 



" Why not?" said I. 



" Because they never are," he replied. 



" But don't your customers soon learn that, 

 and find fault? " 



" Not a bit. They expect it." 



"I do not see how that can be," I said 

 " If I were buying apples that stood in front 

 of your store, I should want to know how they 

 would run dear through the barrel ; and I 

 should expect the center of the barrel to aver- 

 age with the topy 



"You do not understand," said the clerk. 

 "Our customers chiefly are grocers, or at 

 least those who buy to sell again. They want 

 their barrels faced." 



I did not say any thing further ; but upon a 

 moment's reflection I made up my mind that 

 some one somewhere at the end of the route 

 made "a kick " at such a species of dishones- 

 ty, or that even the consumer had learned to 

 expect (because he had to) that the apples in 



the center of the barrel he buys are poorer 

 than those at the top, or "facing," by about 

 25 or oO per cent. 



I wonder if it is possible that commission 

 men expect to have their cases of comb honey 

 faced. I wonder, too if it is also possible 

 that their customers, their grocery trade, al§o 

 demand it. I can hardly credit it, for the 

 great majorit}' of comb-honey buyers pull out 

 a section or two at random, and by these ran- 

 doin sections the valuation of the honey is 

 gauged, rather than by the "facing" behind 

 the glass. 



It seems to me it would do no harm to have 

 this subject aired out a little. If we bee-keep- 

 ers are culpable, let's hold up our hands, and 

 confess. If we are not, then let us know the 

 exact condition of things, both from the com- 

 mission man's standpoint and that of the bee- 

 keeper. It is a sort of family affair, you 

 know, and we might just as well talk plainly 

 among ourselves if the talk will result in good, 

 as I have every reason to believe it will. — Ed.] 



NIVER'S GRADING-RULES. 



No White Clover for Ne.xt Season ; California vs. 

 Wisconsin as a Bee Country. 



BY HARRY I,ATHR0P. 



I should like to say a word in favor of the 

 grading-rules used by Mr. Niver, illustrated 

 on page 844. I have graded my comb honey 

 that way for several years, and find it very 

 satisfactory. The bulk of the crop will be 

 sold as "No. 1," or " fancy, " according to the 

 skill of the bee-keeper, favorable seasons, etc. 

 The pi ice of No. 1 should be understood to be 

 the highest that could be paid for honey. The 

 higher price paid for fancy is given for looks, 

 No. I being every bit as good for use. No. 2 

 is the lowest grade that should be placed upon 

 the market. There is a demand, as Mr. Niver 

 says, for each of these grades in any color, if 

 we explain the different ones with the price of 

 each. A good many dealers like to have at 

 least two grades on hand. I have no trouble 

 in closing out my No. 2 at a price about 2 cents 

 per lb. less than I get for No. 1. 



This season I have got 8 cts. for No. 2 white, 

 10 to 11 for No. 1, and 12 for fancy in lots. 

 My yield the past season was about 80 lbs. 

 comb honey per colony, spring count. The 

 best individual colony finished up 10 supers, 

 or about 250 lbs., in 1-lb. sections. I prophesy 

 no clover honey on this field next season; but 

 we ma\ get a crop from basswood, which fail- 

 ed in 1897. Why not from clover? Well, the 

 plants were two }-ears old, and all went to 

 seed. They will die. Weather has been too 

 dry to germinate more seed. But this county 

 is well seeded, and a wet spring or fall some- 

 times will bring it up, and then look out for 

 another big crop. It won't be in 1898, though. 

 Many people do not understand that it takes 

 two years to make a good crop of honey from 

 white clover. Alter a big lot of seed has ger- 

 minated during a wet season it is the second 

 year of the plant that it produces the honey. 

 The plants that gave us our big crop here this 



