1898 



GLEANIxNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



169 



toes; the grape-grower specialist supplies the 

 market more cheaply than the farmer dabbling 

 in every thing did years ago. In the manu- 

 facture of any kind of goods, bee-keepers' 

 supplies included, the same holds true. Large 

 factories, for instance, are turning out "wag- 

 ons " at a price astonishingly low — so low, in 

 fact, that the mechanic of small means can 

 not compete any more. Specializing helps to 

 cheapen any product, honey included. It 

 seems to me that all of this has been an ad- 

 vantage, a blessing, to the consumer. 



If Morton's brother-in-law and Mr. Abbott 

 are such good salesmen of honey, thev ought 

 to go into that business and let the production 

 of honey alone. 



It seems to me that it might be a beneficial 

 institution if all honey could be gathered at 

 certain different centers, from which a well- 

 directed distribution might take place. The 

 people would also learn to know these places, 

 and come there to buy. The commission 

 houses furnish such centers now, though in a 

 very imperfect manner. But since I do not 

 see any thing better at present, I confess I do 

 not know what I should do without them. 



I .ship, each year, produce of a variable char- 

 acter, such as beans, poultry alive and dressed, 

 capons, calves, honey, etc., and I have little 

 fault to find with the commission man. I 

 need him. Mr. Elwood needs him. The A. 

 I. Root Co. seems to need him. 



It is, perhaps, a foolish notion of mine ; but 

 I sometimes flatter myself that I can produce 

 a pretty fair grade of honey, at least in a fa- 

 vorable season; but I have 'long been convinc- 

 ed that I make a very poor salesman. It re- 

 quires a ready tongue in the first place— a 

 quick and inventive mind; it mav also be a 

 help sometimes to be able to stretch the truth 

 a little bit in order to effect a sale. I am not 

 built that way, I know, and so I don't propose 

 to go into the business. Let me tell you here 

 a bit of my experience in selling honey. 



It was about 12 years ago. I had but a s^lall 

 crop of honey— I think about GOO pounds from 

 over 100 colonies. I started with this honey 

 from Clark Co., Va., for Washington, intend'- 

 ing to sell for ca.sh at 14 cents per pound. My 

 honey was nice blue-thistle honey, which al- 

 ways commands a good price. It had been 

 carefully graded according to finish and 

 w-eight. All of it was exactly of the same 

 shade, not unlike my clover honey here at the 

 North. With sample sections in satchel I 

 spent two whole days trying to effect sales of 

 my immense crop. My jaws fairly ached 

 when the second day drew to its close; but the 

 greater part of n:y honey was still unsold. I 

 was what I called quite successful with one 

 man, selling him six cases at 14 cents. But 

 after he had paid me the price agreed upon he 

 spoke somewhat like this : ' ' Now, my good 

 honey-man " (he evidently did not know my 

 name was Friede-mann), " I want you to un- 

 derstand that I am not fooled, but that I take 

 your honey for what it is, not what it is rep- 

 resented by you. I find no fault with it ; it is 

 very nice ; my customers will eat it, and be 

 well pleased with it ; but — your honey is 

 an imitation, just the same." 



Well, well ! I tried to gather together my 

 scattered wits, and I brought all my available 

 stock of eloquence to bear upon the man. 

 The environment developed an eloquence I 

 had no idea I ever possessed. My jaw nearly 

 ran away with that which is supposed to be 

 located a little higher up ; but all was of no 

 avail. I showed him the traces of propolis on 

 the otherwise clean sections. He replied : 

 "Oh! they are clean enough." I spoke of 

 the want of exact uniformitv in the make-up 

 of the different combs. I said, " If my honey 

 had been manufactured by machinery, as you 

 say it is, all the combs would be exactly alike; 

 if you will find me just two sections that are 

 alike in every particular you may have the 

 lot ; " but his reply was, ' ' Your honey is uni- 

 form enough." Said I, "It is very unlikely 

 that a firm manufacturing such goods as these 

 would send out such a greeny as I am to make 

 sales for them." I actually offered him $10.00 

 for a pound of truly manufactured comb hon- 

 ey, of which he said he had handled large 

 quantities; but on investigating he could not 

 give me the firm of whom he had bought. 

 Nothing, however, seemed to bring the man 

 down, and I had to give him up as a hopeless 

 case. I had not heard at that time of the A. 

 I. R. .?1000 offer; but later I sent him the 

 statement, to which he has not replied, nor 

 has he claimed the .$1000 reward. At last I 

 came to the conclusion that it was not a pay- 

 ing job for me to try to sell my honey. So I 

 left the rest of it with a commission house, 

 which made satisfactory returns soon after, 

 and up to this day I am dealing with the same 

 party. 



Now, right here I want to ask you, Mr. Ed- 

 itor, would Mr. A. I. R. object to having his 

 .$1000 offer used indiscriminately by us honey- 

 producers ? It might be printed on a slip of 

 paper, and thus pasted on every crate we are 

 sending out. In view of the fact that this 

 story of manufactured comb honey is still 

 afloat, do you not think that, to act on this 

 suggestion, would have a tendency to coun- 

 teract the bad effect of it? And, if Mr. A. I. 

 R. has no objections, let us know what the 

 price will be of such slips by the hundred. 



Another suggestion I want to make. Since 

 it can not be disputed that but few people out- 

 side of the professional honey-producers un- 

 derstand how to handle comb honey, I believe 

 it would be a good idea to let proper direc- 

 tions for handling honey in comb go with each 

 honey shipping-crate. 'Such directions might 

 be printed right on the sheet of paper com- 

 monly placed on top of the crated sections, or 

 printed on a separate slip, and placed on top 

 of the sections before adjusting the crate-cov- 

 er. 



The now advocated veneering partitions to 

 be used in shipping-crates will, of course, be a 

 decided help to the retailer; but I think he 

 needs the instructions also. I am very much 

 taken up with the veneering for the above- 

 mentioned purpose, and shall ship no more 

 honey without them, although I consider them 

 unnecessary as a means to prevent broken-out 

 combs doing damage to other sections in the 

 transit. Frail honey, likely to break out by 



