58 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15. 



EXTRACTED HONEY AT 33 '^ CTS. 



On the third page of the same catalog I ex- 

 tract the following from the pen of E. Gallup, 

 who had just been expatiating on the value of 

 the honey-extractor : 



I have sold all my extracted honey in cans, at three 

 pounds to the dollar, and by the pailful at 25 cents 

 per pound, and box honey at 25 to 30 cents, the canned 

 honey going the faster. 



Extracted three pounds for a dollar! and 

 comb honey up to jo cents ! This was in 1871. 

 This same E. Gallup is now writing a series 

 of articles fo. the Atnerican Bee Journal, and 

 if he will tell us how we can get these same 

 prices now, we will emblazon his name in the 

 temple of fame and write him down as a greater 

 than even Hruschka, the inventor of the ma- 

 chine for producing the kind of honey that he 

 tells us brought 33'/^ cents. 



RIGHT AND WRONG PRINCIPLES IN EXTRAC- 

 TION. 



In the years that have gone by since ex- 

 tractors were first sold in this country it has 

 been clearly demonstrated that it is a mistake 

 to construct machines with revolving- cans or 

 without gearing ; and so, for the last 20 years, 

 at least, extractors have been built with sta- 

 tionary c.a.wi,, inside of which the comb-pock- 

 ets, reversible or non - reversible, revolve, 

 motion being imparted by gearing so that one 

 turn of the crank-handle makes two or three 

 turns of the baskets. 



It is only within the last six or seven years 

 that reversible extractors were put upon the 

 market, notwithstanding the fact that Thos. 

 Wm. Cow^n, editor of the British Bee Jour- 

 iial, introduced in 1875, and put into use what 

 we now call the Cowan extractor. It was near- 

 ly 20 years before this extractor was advertised 

 and sold to any extent, at least in this cbun- 

 try ; and the fact that the reversing feature 

 was adopted after this lapse of time is a pretty 

 good evidence that it was good. Indeed, 

 after looking over all the different plans of re- 

 versible machines, the Root Company adopted 

 this as the simplest and most efficient. 



THE COLORADO STATE BEE-KEEPERS' CON- 

 VENTION. — CONTINUED FROM LAST ISSUE. 



At the evening session of the first day, Pres- 

 ident Aikin discussed his method of marketing 

 his honey crop. 



HOW AIKIN CREATES A HOME MARKET ; RE- 

 TAILING HONEY IN THE CANDIED FORM. 



When he first began selling his product he 

 looked up the markets at Chicago and other 

 cities, and found that, after freight, drayage, 

 and commission had been deducted, there 

 would be but very little left for him. He then 

 concluded that, if he could sell his honey as 

 cheaply, or nearly so, as sugar and other stand- 

 ard sweets, consumers would buy it in prefer- 

 ence, and he would make a better profit than 

 to send to the city, and be sure of his money. 

 Accordingly, he has for several years been sell- 

 ing his crop around home, and sending little or 

 none to the city markets. He put the price 

 low, and retailed it out in large and small lots, 

 with the result that he had been able for sev- 

 eral years to sell his honey almost at his door, 



and get for it, in return, cash from neighbors 

 and friends, rather than wait six months or 

 longer on commission men of doubtful repu- 

 tation. 



He exhibited his pails of honey — honey 

 candied solid. These packages were nothing 

 more nor less than small lard-pails, with slop- 

 ing sides, so that they would nest. They bore 

 a very neat lithograph design on the outside. 

 By first purchasing the stone (something that 

 is analogous to an electrotype for ordinary 

 printing), the makers of the pails lithographed 

 all his stock at a slight additional cost. 



It is characteristic of Colorado honey that 

 it candies very quickly. These pails are filled 

 by Aikin shortly after the extracting or before 

 granulation ; and after the honey stands awhile 

 it candies solid. A very brief statement in the 

 lithograph design explains how the honey may 

 be reliquefied after placing it in a pan of hot 

 water. 



These lard cans have the advantage of cheap- 

 ness, being almost the cheapest article that can 

 be bought. Self-sealing is rendered unnec- 

 essary, because the honey candies so quickly 

 it will soon be as solid as so much lard, 

 and hence may be shipped safely to almost 

 any point. 



Mr. Aikin' s favorite method of packing for 

 shipment was to put th^se pails into common 

 cheap cracker - barrels, pack straw between 

 them, head the barrels up, and, presto ! they 



