1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



805 



to ■+ water. We would not feed honey in 

 that way, though one year our bees died off 

 badly in winter, and we had hundreds of 

 combs full of honey in the honey house, bad- 

 ly eaten by worms. We did not know 

 what to do with them, so we carried them 

 out and scattered them around the apiary 

 so the bees could have all they wanted for 

 several days, and they settled down and 

 worked on them quietly, as if getting- honey 

 from the flowers. This was the last of July 

 or first of August 



Have the cloth that is laid over the tub 

 large enough so the corners will not (or the 

 sides either) get into the tub, so the bees 

 can crawl into the tub. Sometimes I have 

 tied a string around the top of the tub; but 

 this spring I did not, and no bees were 

 drowned. 



Roseville, 111., July 22. 



MARKETI^Q HONEY. 



Some Very Seasonable and Important Suggestions. 



BY WM. A. SELSER. 



Both the question of price and the place 

 to market honey depend entirely upon the 

 location upon which the honey is raised. 

 Honey brings a better price, as a rule, when 

 sold at a large market nearest to where it 

 is produced, for the reason that you can 

 familiarize the trade with the location; and 

 if they are pleased with the product they 

 will try to secure it from that location every 

 j-ear. The result of this is, they are will- 

 ing to pay a little better price for it. The 

 great trouble with the bee-producers 

 throughout the United States is that they 

 are so very busy during the honey season 

 they do not get their honey ready for the 

 market until fall, and then it is not shipped 

 into the market until winter. 



In the past number of years, experience 

 has shown that honey brings the best price 

 in September and October; and while try- 

 ing to hold back the crop, or the facts re- 

 lating to the qu intity of honey produced, 

 may bring a higher price for a while, as 

 soon as the market realizes that there is 

 honey being held back, the price drops. It 

 is always well to get at the facts as they 

 are; and while, seemingly, hiding the facts 

 may help the price temporarily, it destroys 

 confidence eventually, and hurts the price. 



The writer has had considerable experi- 

 ence from different locations where bee men 

 have distinctly said there was no hone^' 

 when a little detective business has reveal- 

 ed carioads carried over. There has been 

 considerable extracted honey carried over 

 the past season, and the chances are that 

 extracted honey will not bring any more 

 this season, but possibly a little less, than 

 it did in 1903. 



Comb honey brought a good price in the 

 fall of 1903, which seemed to be maintaired 

 through the winter; but so much honey that 

 was held back for still higher prices was 

 forced on the market in February, March, 



and April, that comb honey has sold in the 

 last three months at a lower figure than it 

 has been known to sell at for many years. 



When this is the case the grocer is slow 

 to take hold at the opening of the coming 

 season. When he has bought honey in the 

 late spring as low as 9 or 10 cts. he will 

 let you pass by if 30U ask him much more 

 than this early in the season, until he is ac- 

 tually compelled to buy it owing to the call 

 from the consuming trade. I would advise 

 all bee-keepers to take time to get their hon- 

 ey ready for market in August or early in 

 September, and get it to destination by the 

 last of September or early in October. 

 There is more honey sold in October and 

 November than in the other ten months put 

 together. 



Philadelphia, Pa. 



[The reader can easily prove many of Mr. 

 Selser's statements by looking at the fluc- 

 tuation of the horey market in the fall and 

 succeeding spring. It is perfectly plain 

 that, if some of the honey that was held 

 back for better prices had been sold at the 

 right time last fall, there would not have 

 been such a terrible slump in the market 

 this spring. I know personally of some 

 shipments that were held back which were 

 finally sold at a large reduction in the 

 spring— shipments which might have saved 

 the producers hundreds of dollars if they 

 had been made in October or even Novem- 

 ber. Better by far have a little easier mar- 

 ket in the fall than a market all smashed 

 to pieces in the subsequent spring. We 

 are suffering at the present time because of 

 low prices during the last six or eight 

 months. 



One trouble is that some producers feel 

 that we have "an ax to grind," and have 

 taken our statements with some allowance. 

 The honey-market quotations published for 

 the year ought to show whether we are bi- 

 ased or not. 



CALIFORNIA ITEMS. 

 Phacelia. 



BY W. A. PRYAL. 



yi/r. Root: — I am impelled to send the 

 following notes, mostly in answer to matters 

 that have come up within the last few 

 months. They concern topics appertain- 

 ing to bees in this State. 



The phacelia is common in California. 

 Prof. Volney Rattan, in his "Popular Cali- 

 fornia Flora," second edition, notes some 

 eight varieties. I have seen it growing 

 right up to the edge of the Pacific Ocean, 

 and I don't remember how far inland. I 

 believe it can be found all over the State. 

 Some of the varieties are of rather delicate 

 growth; others are robust. The former are 

 relished by cattle; and where it grows in 

 quantities it is a valuable pasturage. I 

 have found bees working on all the varie- 

 ties I have noticed, but I do not think it 



