1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



537 



the public and the large buyers would 

 know that such honey was necessarily pure. 



One of the York State local county socie- 

 ties did for a few years (I do not know 

 whether it does now or not) brand all the 

 honey put out by its members, g-uarantee- 

 iog- its quality and purity. It strikes me 

 that the National might and ought to do 

 something of this kind. If a large part of 

 the general public believes that comb honey 

 is manufactured, and if it can be satisfied 

 that a certain brand of honey is pure, it 

 would purchase without hesitation. 



It would not be very expensive for the 

 National to have a local inspector for each 

 large citj', and have him look over each 

 large lot of honey, inspect the shipping and 

 way bills, and look over the correspondence 

 to make sure that the honey was produced, 

 put up, and shipped by some known re- 

 sponsible bee-keepers' society or individual 

 member. I would assess the cost of this 

 inspection of the honey on the producer or 

 buyer of it who desires to have the brand 

 of purity and quality of the National affixed 

 to it. I would also have the inspector ap- 

 pointed by the Board of Directors and the 

 Executive Committee jointly, they to exam- 

 ine the recommendations as to his fitness 

 that have been received, and to apportion 

 out the salary, such salary to be in propor- 

 tion to the amount of honey examined, and 

 in the end to be paid by the honey-produc- 

 er, the buyer, or commission man who de- 

 sires the National to guarantee the quality 

 and purity of the honey. If necessary, 

 doubtful samples of extracted can be anal- 

 yzed, and, if pure, the certificate or brand 

 of purity attached. And, by the way, we 

 already have a chemist on the Board of Di- 

 rectors who is competent to make such an- 

 aljsis at a nominal price. (Just here I 

 ought to say that Mr. Selser has never 

 broached this subject to me in any way, 

 shape, or manner. ) 



This same inspector might also attach 

 his official grading on the various ship- 

 ments that come in, and thus avoid a lot of 

 trouble between producer and buyer. To 

 have some expert grade as well as certify 

 the purity of every lot of honey coming into 

 Chicago would be worth much. 



Perhaps ihis idea is too Utopian to be 

 carried into effect; but I have briefly out- 

 lined in a crude form the thoughts that 

 have been revolving in my mind, and should 

 be g ad to hear from any one with sugges- 

 tions. If a />rar/zVa/ scheme can be evolved, 

 I am satisfied that much good will be ac- 

 complished, and the officers of the National 

 will be glad to adopt it. 



COMB-HONEY MARKET; IMPORTANCE OF 



GETTING THE NEW PRODUCT ON THE 



MARKET EARLY. 



If the reader will look over our honey 

 quotations for the last three months he will 

 see that comb honey has been getting dull, 

 duller, dullest. The fact is, bee-keepers, 

 not heeding our injunctions, have been dil- 



atory about getting their last year's crop 

 on the market. A great deal of it has been 

 shipped since the holidays, when it should 

 alzvays be on the market before. Last fall 

 there was not enough good honey to supply 

 the market. All this spring there has been 

 a glut and falling prices. 



Mr. Selstr, one of the principal honey- 

 buyers of the East ( and his statement is re- 

 inforced by the principal buyers of the 

 country), urges the importance of shipping 

 all Northern honey to market between Sept. 

 1 and Dec. 1. Clover and basswood should 

 be sold as soon as taken off the hive. There 

 is a time for a few days early in the season 

 when the first new honey brings a fancj' 

 price. It is right here that the early bird 

 — the bee- keeper — catches the worm. 



Of course, just now is the dull or off' sea- 

 son for comb honey; but it is duller than 

 usual at this time of the year simply be- 

 cause producers were slow about getting 

 their goods on the market. Then when 

 they did ship, they shipped all at once and 

 glutted the market. Many held back, think- 

 ing to get better prices; but in this they 

 made a fearful mistake. There is a large 

 amount of ccmb honey on the market now 

 that came in too late to be sold. Some of it 

 has been disposed of at a fearful sacrifice. 

 We know personally of a number of com- 

 mission men who have been roundly scored 

 for selling at so low a price, when we know 

 as a fact they did the very best they could 

 with the market as it is. 



Faccy honey sells almost any time at a 

 fancy price; but this kind of honey is usu- 

 ally all disposed of before the holidays, be- 

 fore the second quality reaches the market, 

 say in late winter or early spring, and then 

 w-hen poor prices are secured, if any at all, 

 there is a kick, and the commission man 

 has to take it fore and aft. We do not 

 champion the honey salesmen, but bee-keep- 

 ers need to be reasonable and fair. They 

 need to wake up, as Mr. Selser says, and 

 learn when is the best time to sell their 

 honey. 



It is not too early to try to impress the 

 fact that all table honey should be sold 

 early. Better employ extra help, get up a 

 little earlier in the morning, and work a 

 little later to scrape the sections to get 

 them cased and off to market; and don't, 

 don't ship your No. 2 (unfinished or stained 

 sections) to the city after the holidays where 

 they will glut the market. If possible, 

 work them off around home. Sell among 

 your neighbors. Peddle it out to people 

 you know (at less price if need be) and ex- 

 plain to them that it is exactly as good 

 as the fancy white honey in boxes that 

 is so pretty to look at. I am not sure but 

 it would be money in your pocket to cut out 

 this inferior- looking honey, but good in 

 quality, mix it with a first-class extracted, 

 and sell it as bulk comb honey in tin buck- 

 ets around among your neighbors who know 

 you, and know that your product is the gen- 

 uine article. 



Perhaps some of our friends will think 



