912 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 1. 



how many carloads will you purchase outright 

 annually, spot cash on track atOberlin, you to 

 put up a forfeit of $500 in case of a failure on 

 your part, and I lay down the honey there at 

 12 cents a pound in 1-pound glass jars ? Don't 

 forget I want 6 rents a pound for the naked 

 honey, you to do all the liquefying and ex- 

 changing with the retailer ? 



I will tell you what I will do, Mr. Fowls. I 

 have several thousand pounds of fine ex- 

 tracted in 4, 7, and 14 pound sizes (the regular 

 3, 5, and 10 pound lard-pails), and all candied 

 solid. If you will pay me 7 cents a pound for 

 this honey, and the cost of the pails, you to 

 pay the freight, then the honey shall be yours, 

 and you may make all you please out of it. 

 If I am to be accused of selling too low you 

 may have a chance to buy my honey and get 

 it out of the way where it will not utterly 

 ruin the market. Terms are that you deposit 

 the money in the hands of The A. I. Root Co., 

 then as soon as your agent releases the honey 

 to you at Oberiin, and it is properly checked 

 out, they remit to me. This year I am retail- 

 ing honey at 7 cents. 



I want every bee-keeper who reads this to 

 know that, when I was retailing candied hon- 

 ey (or liquid) at 6 cents, the best I could do in 

 Chicago or other principal markets was 6 cents. 

 The freight to Chicago is 97 cents (which 

 means on net honey over a cent) in less car- 

 lots ; Oberiin, Ohio, where big prices prevail, 

 still more of course. The packages, if 5-gal- 

 lon cans, were }4 cent : thus if I sold at what 

 it was possible for me to get away from home 

 I got but A% cents for my honey. That 

 pesky stingy Fowls never once whispered to 

 me that he could get me 25 cents for that hon- 

 ey in Oberiin. Just think of it ! I could have 

 packed that honey in 1 pound jars at 4>^ cents 

 each, paid 2 cents a jar freight to Oberiin, 

 making 6>< cents, given Mr. Fowls 5 cents 

 commission, and his retailer 3^'< cents, then 

 still have 10 cents for my honey, when in Chi- 

 cago it would bring me but 4 '4^. That shows 

 the good will and brotherly feeling Mr. Fowls 

 has for a fellow-producer. He tries to make 

 us believe it will sell at 25 cents a pound. See 

 page 305. I want you, dear reader, to note 

 that not one of those who are criticising me 

 for selling my honey at 6 cents would purchase 

 it at that price, nor show me where or how I 

 could get that out of it. I only wish it were 

 possible for me to get that much year by year. 

 I now get 7 cents for bare honey, and I will 

 venture that Mr. Fowls can not do one whit 

 better on an equal quantity per capita in his 

 boasted high-rate town. 



Those people who get such good prices are 

 selling to the few who can and do buy luxu- 

 ries ; and so long as their production does not 

 exceed the consumption of those few at fancy 

 prices they are all right, and I have no kick. 

 I suppose they would be shocked to hear that 

 here raspberries are sometimes sold at less than 

 $1.00 per crate of 24 pints, while in other 

 places they would bring two or three times 

 that. Or in corn countries, where it is impos- 

 sible for the people to consume it all, they sell 

 at 10 to 20 cents a bushel, while here we pay 

 two or three times that. Again, less than 500 



miles from Mr. Fowls' home, I have heard of 

 peaches selling at 15 cents a bushel ; but here 

 we seldom get them for less than $1.00 a 

 peck. 



Brethren, if some of us sell honey too cheap- 

 ly, just buy us out. We should be glad to sell 

 you some to supply your fancy trade, and we 

 will take ordinary prices too. Oh, yes ! just 

 bring your bees and come. Flour and honey 

 are cheap here, and freight rates to Ohio are 

 not much more than " the traffic will bear." 

 Look out, Mr. Fowls, you better get your hon- 

 ey sold at fancy prices quick before I get 

 there with a few cars of western stock ; be- 

 cause, when I get to selling fine candied hon- 

 ey in 4, 7, and 14 pound pails there, and every- 

 body buys, your ^/«5.j trade will be done. I 

 think I'd better take your advice, and put up 

 my prices here to 15 or 20 cents. That will 

 shut off all but my half dozen or so wealthy 

 customers. Then I am coming with my crop 

 to share your excellent trade. Come to think 

 about it, I forgot to say that wealthy people do 

 not buy very much honey — just a little of hon- 

 ey, fruits, meats, nuts, and other luxuries. 

 Come, brother Fowls, let's do a little business. 



Loveland, Colo. 



[Mr. Fowls will soon have an article, or ar- 

 ticles, on bottling extracted honey, and how 

 he gets higher prices for his honey. In one 

 of these he will doubtless " pay his respects " 

 to the Ridgepole (F)owl. My! won't the 

 feathers fly?— Ed.] 



EXPERIMENTS IN INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



BY ARTHUR C. MII,I.ER. 



'• 'Tis an ill wind that blows nobody good;" 

 and, old as the adage is, it is as applicable to- 

 day as ever ; and the past season, while giving 

 almost no honey, has offered most excellent 

 opportunities for various experiments. Those 

 of us who made the most of these opportuni- 

 ties have gotten at least some good trom the 

 ill wind. 



I devoted much of the season to experiments 

 in introducing queens ; and while I do not 

 consider the results as in any wise conclusive, 

 they were at least interesting, and may be of 

 value to others. 



To begin with, I wish to emphasize the fact 

 that, during most of the time covered by the 

 experiments, there was no honey being gath- 

 ered. Also, some of the queens were received 

 by mail from greater or lesser distances ; the 

 rest I reared. For convenience of ready com- 

 parison I will give each method and its results 

 together. 



1. Queens liberated from shipping-cage by 

 bees eating away candy. 



{a) Colony having all brood tak«n away. 



Queen was received, but it was two 



weeks before she began to lay. 

 {b) Colony with brood ; queenless but 24 



hours. Queen killed. Two cases. 

 {c) Colony with brood, but queenless 3 



days. Queen received. Two cases. 



2. Queen caged on hatching brood. Two 

 killed, one received. 



