1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



337 



defends this kind of policy, I do not know but 

 I should be tempted to give the name, and let 

 bee-keepers draw their own conclusions. I 

 tell you, doctor, if you could stand in the 

 shoes of York, Hutchinson, and even of my 

 own poor self, may be you would think that 

 the policy we have all pursued is not far from 

 what you would have carried out yourself. It 

 is not always a question of whether we shall 

 be sued for libel, but it is a question as to 

 whether we might be doing some one an 

 injustice. — Ed.] 



FACING COMB HONEY. 

 Doolittle's Position Scored. 



BY W. M. WHITNEY. 



Editor Gleanings: — I have just read an 

 article from the pen of Mr. G. M. Doolittle, on 

 page 174 of your journal, and to a portion of 

 the same, under the head of " Facing Comb 

 Honey," I desire to give a few moments' 

 attention. I^^f^"^^^^::;;;^ ^^^:::^^^ 



I have no objection to make to his manner 

 of crating XXX honey, when the whole in 

 the crate bears the test ; but when he says, 

 "And I also claim that there is nothing out of 

 the way, if any one chooses to do so, in ship- 

 ping cases of honey having XXX faces and 

 XX or X honey inside, on commission. Yes, 

 more : I claim that there would be nothing 

 wrong in filling the center of the case with 

 buckwheat honey, the same having XXX 

 white-honey facing, providing it was shipped 

 on commission, every case alike, and the 

 producer thought it to his interest to do so. I 

 should doubt the wisdom of such a course; 

 but I can not see that such a thing would be 

 dishonest." 



Now, Mr. Editor, I have carefully read the 

 above statement, wiped my spectacles, fearing 

 I read it wrongly, or, rather, hoping I had, 

 and read it over again. Now, I venture the 

 assertion that neither Mr. Doolittle nor any 

 other reputable bee-keeper would risk his rep- 

 utation as an honest honey-producer by put- 

 ting up his crop in that manner, even though 

 he shipped it on commission. I can discover 

 no difference between shipping to the con- 

 sumer direct and to a commission house, so 

 far as honesty of packing is concerned. There 

 seems to be quite a strong desire on the part 

 of many shippers to make the poor commission 

 man a scape-goat for their sins; and, again, I 

 fail to see what the fact, that "the producer 

 thought it to his interest to do so " has to do 

 with the honesty of the transaction. If a 

 man may put up a crate of honey with XXX 

 faces, and XX or X behind them, or buck- 

 wheat honey, he might any kind of honey, 

 however poor, back of them; and, if he saw 



fit, he could vary the combination behind the 

 facing as he saw fit, whether he shipped one 

 or a dozen cases, and be equally honest. 



If the facing in a case is not to be taken as 

 an index of what it contains, why should one 

 case be used as a sample for any other ? 



The writer of the language quoted above 

 says he has his sleeves rolled up ; but I sup- 

 pose from the context his arms were stripped 

 for another kind of battle; but if they are yet 

 bare he might as well leave them so, for mine 

 are also stripped to the shoulder to meet him 

 half way. Yes, I will go all the way to Boro- 

 dino, and dare him into the middle of the 

 road. Don't let anybody be afraid now; there 

 will be no blood shed on the proposition of 

 honesty of the bee-keeper who crates his hon- 

 ey in the manner above described, whether he 

 ships direct to the consumer, or on commission . 



I have read Mr. Snyder's article on " Fac- 

 ing Comb Honey," to which Mr. Doolittle 

 refers; and, so far as it bears upon this sub- 

 ject, I indorse every word he says. The fac- 

 ing is put where it can be seen for 2, purpose, 

 and not, as Mr. Editor says in footnote to 

 article by Mr. Snyder, " unconsciously put to 

 the front because it is so beautiful, and not 

 for the purpose of deception." Now, that is 

 entirely too charitable ; or are these words 

 sarcasm ? 



If a lot of poor stuff is put behind prime 

 stock used as facing, no better evidence of 

 intention to deceive could be presented, for it 

 would convict the guilty party of an attempt 

 to defraud, in any court in the country. 



Why the glass front in the shipping-cases ? 

 To show the quality of the honey, of course. 

 What else could it be for ? It says, as plainly 

 as words could express, ' ' See what a nice case 

 of honey." But Mr. D. says, "The commis- 

 sion man is supposed to open the case and 

 show the honey." But suppose he does not 

 do that. He also says, "He is to use judg- 

 ment, and sell to the best advantage of the 

 consignor." Then, most assuredly, he will 

 not open the case if he suspects any " uncon- 

 scious " putting to the front of "beautiful 

 sections." 



Scores — yes, hundreds of persons are un- 

 suspecting enough to take the off-hand state- 

 ments of the commission man ; and, for any 

 one of a dozen reasons which might be named, 

 do not stop to examine minutely the goods 

 purchased, but find later that they are the 

 victims of a downright swindle. Now, who is 

 the swindler — the commission man or the 

 packer and shipper? But Mr. D. says, "The 

 buyer should examine the honey." Very 

 true; he should have done so; why? Because 

 some people cheat in packing ; he will be 

 likely to do so next time ; but does the fact 

 that the buyer neglected to examine the goods 

 change the culpability of the producer, and 

 render him any the less dishonest ? 



Pray tell me how honey faced XXX and 

 backed with XX or X is to be graded ? Or 

 will you, as Mr. D. says you can do in grading 

 and marking honey, put a "secret mark in 

 the handholes "or in some other sly place, 

 ' ' out of sight of any one except the one who 

 is in the secret ' ' ? 



