170 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. ]. 



rough handling, should not be shipped, but 

 kept for the home trade or home use. 



Mr. Niver says in a late issue of Gleanings, 

 that he successfully sold the honey of six 

 producers last season. Good ! and what I 

 should like to see done is this: See him hired 

 by the bee-keepers of New York to sell all the 

 honey they produce next year. This might 

 be more of a task than one man ought to un- 

 dertake; but I should like to see it tried. I 

 promise to join the company. To s-11 in the 

 home market ? and that in the honey State of 

 New York ? A doubtful undertaking ! I have 

 not the time nor the patience nor the gift to 

 retail my honey, even if the prospect were 

 such as to guarantee good pay for the time 

 spent. 



The grocers in my town sell honey, very 

 fine honey at that, at less than what my crop 

 netted me sold by commission houses. I 

 should be obliged to buy up all the honey in 

 my vicinity — good, bad, and inferior, get a 

 monopoly on it (and that wouldn't suit Doo- 

 little), before I could raise the price. 



I have exhibited at our annual fairs, for 

 many years past, always making a creditable 

 attractive display, exhibiting in flint-glass jars, 

 jelly-glasses, cans, and fancy comb. I have 

 talked bees and honey on these occasions till I 

 was hoarse, often having great crowds around 

 me; but I never have sold five-dollars' worth 

 of honey in all the time I have attended fairs. 



I have advertised in the local papers, have 

 sweetened the editors, donated to the preach- 

 ers, and have given away ever so much other- 

 wise ; but in the development of my home 

 market [ have made a complete failure, and 

 the commission man seems to be my only res- 

 cue. I should be very glad to find cash buy- 

 ers for my yearly output, and I am sure others 

 would too. 



Naples, Ont. Co., N. Y., Jan. 15. 



[Mr. Greiner has touched upon a number of 

 things that desen-e more consideration ihan 

 they have hitherto received. Selling to a 

 good conmiission house has its advantages, 

 but it is possible honey would bring more if 

 sold through a sale.sman. In the first place, 

 very few good honey-producers would be good 

 salesmen. It naturally follows, then, that the 

 man who can produce the honey, but who is a 

 poor seller, should employ the skill of one 

 who can do the selling to the best advantage. 

 Obviously enough, one honey-producer can 

 not alone afford to employ a man to sell his 

 crop. Mr. Greiner's suggestion, then, that 

 the bee-keepers of York State choose some 

 man to sell honey for a number of bee-keep- 

 ers, is a good one. To make this scheme fea- 

 sible, a sort of honey exchange would have to 

 be formed; and it occurs to me that the vSen- 

 eca, Ontario, and Tompkins Co. Bee-keepers' 

 Associations should amalgamate into a sort of 

 honey exchange, with a constitution broad 

 enough to take in bee-keepers from all portions 

 of the State who might wish to join on pay- 

 ment of a certain fee. 



Whether this plan would be feasible or not 

 I can not say; but those three county organiza- 

 tions are made up of a lot of live hustling 



bee-keepers, of whom Niver is a worthy sam- 

 ple — certainly a good salesman from what I 

 liear. 



Well, if the York Staters wish to consider it 

 we will hold our columns open for further dis- 

 cussion. 



Yes, we will permit the use of the ."^lOOO re- 

 ward card; but before it is put in form for a 

 general label or sticker it ought to be revised 

 and brought up to the present time. I do not 

 know that it would have to be changed very 

 much; but its use should be made to cover the 

 present exigencies of the times. As to what 

 else should be put on a shipping-case is anoth- 

 er question. I know of no man more compe- 

 tent to deal with this matter than Mr. Elwood. 

 If he will prepare copy for a sticker, telling 

 how to load the honey, etc., we will submit it 

 to our readers; and if it receives general sanc- 

 tion we can, if desired, print it in the form of 

 a sticker and sell it at a price within the reach 

 of all. 



We have sold for years a sticker printed in 

 red ink and bold-face type, telling how to load 

 the honey, and general directions regarding its 

 care. It reads as follows : 



F R A G I I, E ! 



COMB HONEY 



Handle With Extra Care. ^^^^S^rff 



Do not Move it on Hand-Trucks. i^E-^yl 



Do not Drop it, lyoad with the finger 



Do not Dvunp it. pointing to the Bow, 



.Set it down Easy, I,ocomotive, or Horse. 



Haul only on Vehicles with Spring.s. 



Now, brethren, the subject is open for dis- 

 cussion. Fire in your suggestions. — Ed.] 



NOTES OF TRAVEL AMONG BEE-KEEPERS OF 

 YORK STATE. 



Coggshall's Apiary; His Methods of Work. 

 BY E. R. ROOT. 



By reason of a crowd of work, and also on 

 account of the crowded condition of our col- 

 umns, I have been obliged to discontinue for 

 a while my notes of travel among the bee- 

 keepers of York State. I do not know exactly 

 where I left off; for, instead of giving my 

 notes in chronological order, I have taken 

 hops, skips, and jumps. 



W. L. Cogg.shall, as I have before told you, 

 is one of the most extensive bee-keepers of 

 New York, and who, as I have also stated, 

 runs over 1000 colonies in some nine different 

 out- apiaries. Since I left his place I have 

 heard he is buying up more 3'ards, and is going 

 in heavier than ever. I do not dare tell you 

 in tons how his crops of honey run from year 

 to year; but I will tell you something of his 

 methods. 



I have before stated that Mr. Coggshall is 

 wedded to no particular hive ; but he does 

 have a sj-stem, and a very thorough one, un- 

 der which all his work is done, and by which 

 his marvelous results in dollars and cents are 

 secured. I have already .shown }'ou a view of 

 one of his apiaries, and also a view of his 

 beautiful home — the latter built and paid for 

 entirely out of the proceeds of the bees. 



