1898 



GLEANINGS IN BBE CULTURE. 



469 



A shelf or so accommodates sundry apparatus, 

 and all carbolic acid and napthalene in stock 

 is kept here. This will doubtless account for 

 the entire absence of spiders, moths, etc., usu- 

 ally too plentiful in this class of house. Out- 

 side of the house the porches are painted vari- 

 ous colors, and along one side runners are 

 fixed which carry nucleus hives, so that they 

 may be moved either toward the hive from 

 which the}- were taken to strengthen them or 

 toward the hive to which it is intended to in- 

 troduce the new queen. The roof on this side 

 projects 18 in., and so protects these from 

 heavy rains. This bee-house cost in material 

 $48, and since it was erected all additions by 

 way of outside hives have been discontinued. 

 Every appliance connected with the craft used 

 in the apiary, except smoker and quilts, has 

 been made by our venerable friend himself, 

 even down to the metal ends and frames. 

 The hives proper are constructed entirely upon 

 a novel design of his own. They have the en- 

 trances at the top, with a passageway along 

 the front of all the frames. Floor-boards are 

 all loose with wedges under, and can be drawn 

 out in an instant; and a ventilating-hole is 

 bored at the back of the body-box toward the 

 bottom, through which napthalene is intro- 

 duced by sliding the perforated zinc on one 

 side. No impervious quilts are used, yet floor- 

 boards are always dry. The bees work well 

 in the hives, and winter well; and the interest 

 and occupation afforded in looking after his 

 bees and ministering to their wants have 

 brightened the eventide of his life and added 

 to its enjoyments in no small degree, besides 

 giving a zest for outdoor occupations marvel- 

 ous in one who has already entered upon his 

 eighty-eighth year. — British Bee Jourtial, 



FACING APPLES AND HONEY. 



A Practice Encouraged by the Dealer and Commis- 

 sion House rather than by the Producer. 



BY w. s. FUtTZ. 



Editor Gleanings : — At the present time 

 there is considerable controversy in Glean- 

 ings over Doolittle's assertion that it is not 

 wrong to face honey, apples, and other things 

 when put up for sale. Without going into 

 the merits or demerits of the question, I 

 should like some of those persons who are 

 criticising Doolittle to tell us who is to blame 

 for this habit of facing. Is it those who do 

 the facing or is it those who handle the product 

 and make sale of it ? I have been in the 

 fruit business for about 25 years, and I learned 

 several years ago that the trade — }'es, and 

 consumers too — will buy the best-appearing 

 packages of fruit ; and the fruit that is faced 

 with the nicest specimens always has the 

 readiest sale at the best price. 



When I first entered the fruit business I 

 thought it was dishonest to face fruit that was 

 offered for sale, and particularly so when sell- 

 ing in the home market ; but I soon found 

 that, if I wished to succeed, I must do as 

 others did, for purchasers were inclined to 

 take the appearance of the fruit to judge by. 



and that the eye was the only thing that it 

 was necessary to please when a sale was to be 

 made. 



Last summer, apples were so plentiful here 

 that the}' went begging at 15 cts. per bushel, 

 and as I had over 400 bushels I knew that I 

 should have to find a market somewhere else, 

 or my apples would go to loss. I sent a trial 

 shipment by steamboat to St. Paul, and realiz- 

 ed 47 cents per bushel net. During the sum- 

 mer I sent 120 barrels to St. Paul, and they 

 averaged me $1.20 per barrel net. All of 

 those apples were faced with the nicest, and 

 the only trouble was that I could not supply 

 the demand that I had for apples. When I 

 was sending my Dutchess apples, one of my 

 neighbors asked me to allow him to put five 

 barrels of the same kind of apples with mine. 

 This I would not do, but I allowed him to 

 ship his when I shipped mine, making two 

 consignments. When the returns came I had 

 $1.20 net per barrel, and was asked to send 

 more. My neighbor had 40 cents net per 

 barrel, and was told that his apples did not 

 sell well because they were not faced. His 

 apples were just as nice as mine. I got well 

 paid for all my labor and trouble, and he 

 nearly gave his apples away, just because they 

 were not faced. 



A few days later, when I was preparing my 

 Wealthy apples for shipment, another neigh- 

 bor brought ten barrels of Wealthy, and 

 wanted to send with mine. I asked him if his 

 apples were faced, and he said they were not. 

 I told him of the former shipment, and advis- 

 ed him to repack and face them, but he thought 

 that would not pay. So I advised him to get 

 a commission merchant in town to send his 

 apples, and he did so, his apples and mine 

 going on the same boat. When the returns 

 came I had $1.20 per barrel, and the other 

 man had .30 cents per barrel, and was told to 

 face his apples if he sent any more. 



One of owx dealers in Muscatine told me 

 that he bought and shipped 6500 barrels of 

 apples last fall, and that they faced them with 

 selected apples, and that he had bought about 

 200 barrels from a farmer that were packed by 

 the farmer in the orchard. When these 200 

 barrels reached their destination they were 

 opened and found to be not faced, and were 

 rejected. It cost the farmer $30 to have those 

 apples repacked and properly faced. 



As long as the public demands that honey, 

 fruit, and other products shall be put up in 

 attractive shape, and that appearance alone 

 shall be the criterion to go by, packages will 

 be put up that way. When the public de- 

 mands that all products shall be properly 

 sorted, and that only those of a certain grade 

 shall go in the same package, then they will 

 be put on the market that way. There is no 

 intention of dishonesty in bee-keepers facing 

 their honey, or of fruit-growers iu facing their 

 fruit. They do it because the trade demands 

 it; and as soon as trade demands some other 

 method, producers will cater to that demand. 



Muscatine, la.. May 20. 



[Some of our friends may think it a little 

 strange that I have allowed this discussion to 



