1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



299 



honey in frames than they will in sections, 

 I can sell bulk comb honey more easily here 

 than that in sections, as most people would 

 rather have it at the same price. Extracted 

 honey does not sell well in this locality, on 

 account of the belief that it is adulterated 

 with glucose and other substances. This 

 was the case before the pure-food law was 

 passed, and on this account it will take a 

 long time to overcome the prejudice against 

 it. As long as bulk comb honey sells at 

 practically the same price as that in sec- 

 tions, I prefer to produce it, as I think it 

 would cost at least five cents more per pound 

 in sections. This difference of opinion as 

 to bulk comb honey seems to be just a mat- 

 ter of custom. I can see no reason why it is 

 not just as delicious and just as clean when 

 handled carefully as section honey, and I 

 am glad that most of the people of the South 

 are of the same opinion. Of course, we all 

 want to sell honey in the handiest and most 

 profitable way, and it would be absurd to 

 think that honey-producers of the North 

 could dispose of their product in bulk until 

 the opinion of the consumer changes. 



There is no question in my mind as to 

 the fact that the price of honey is too low; 

 and I attribute this to the idea which seems 

 to be generally diffused, that honey is adul- 

 terated with glucose and other syrups, and 

 even that comb honey is manufactured. I 

 also think that first-class honey, such as 

 that from white clover, etc., should bring 25 

 cents per pound, and that the time is not 

 far distant when it will. The prices of hon- 

 ey are far lower in proportion to cost of pro- 

 duction than any other kind of food-supply. 

 If the present pure-food law had been pass- 

 ed ten years sooner, I am sure that the price 

 of honey would have been much better now 

 than it is. However, we can only wait and 

 hope for better prices in the future. 



Stonecoal, W. Va. 



HANDLING BEES. 



Advice to Beginners All Right. 



BY I. HOPKINS. 



The recommendation to "give a few puflfs 

 of smoke, then wait a couple of minutes for 

 the bees to fill themselves with honey when 

 you may handle them without being stung, ' ' 

 and which Dr. Miller condemns in the fol- 

 lowing words: "That's the sort of foolish 

 advice still too often given, even in books " 

 (see Gleanings for Nov. 15, p. 714), moves 

 me to say that the doctor is entirely wrong 

 in condemning it, for the advice slightly 

 modified is excellent for those for whom it 

 was intended, and the books containing 

 such advice are to be commended 



Further on the doctor says, "A practical 

 bf e-keeper hasn't time to wait for any thing 

 of the kind." True; but the advice is not 

 intended for "practical" (experienced) bee- 

 keepers, but for beginners, who may, for 

 instance, have to transfer their bees from 



common boxes to frame hives, unaided, ex- 

 cept by such instructions as they can ob- 

 tain from text-books. 



I have been present on many occasions 

 when novices were undertaking their first 

 transferring; and in order to give them as- 

 surance through the avoidance of stings, I 

 have shown them, in the first instance, so 

 far as this is possible, that, by giving a few 

 puffs of smoke and then waiting about one 

 minute before giving the bees another puff, 

 they can turn the box of bees upside down 

 with safety, a few seconds later, and then 

 transfer by drumming or in any other man- 

 ner decided upon. The doctor knows as 

 well as any one that "bees filled with honey 

 seldom volunteer an attack." Let a novice 

 come out successfully from his first manip- 

 ulation and he will, as a rule, go about the 

 second one with all the confidence imagin- 

 able; and if he is made of good bee-keeping 

 stuff he will soon do as the doctor or other 

 " practical " bee-keepers do. 



Auckland, New Zealand. 



A NATIONAL HONEY-SELLING ORGANI- 

 ZATION. 



The Lack of a Uniform Grade and Quality a 

 Great Objection. 



BY J. M. DONALDSON. 



The ideas expressed in Mr. Cavanagh's 

 article, p. 146, March 1, are, without doubt, 

 a move in the right direction; but, like oth- 

 er writers on this subject, he has overlooked 

 one of the stumbling-blocks. He points to 

 to the fact that packers of other foods are 

 reaping a harvest by advertising. We must 

 take into consideration the fact that syrup, 

 corn, peas, canned soups, breakfast foods, 

 and, in fact, almost every thing in the food 

 line, has just what honey lacks — that is, 

 uniformity. We have clover, buckwheat, 

 basswood, sage, mangrove, and many other 

 different flavors. Again, in density, flavor, 

 and ripeness, honey from different sources 

 will give two or three grades, depending on 

 the skill of the producer. The success of 

 any article depends on quality and uniform- 

 ity. When the housewife buys a package 

 of food that suits her and the family she 

 usually asks for the same brand of goods. 

 Now, suppose she buys a package contain- 

 ing clover honey, which the family likes; 

 but when she gets the next package, and it 

 contains buckwheat or some other strongly 

 flavored honey, how long will that family 

 patronize our industry? If a central station 

 were established, the honey should be 

 graded according to quality, flavor, and col- 

 or. In this way customers would get the 

 same grade and quality at all times. 



I do not claim to be an advertising man, 

 but just an ordinary bee-keeper who has al- 

 ways marketed his own crop. However, I 

 once worked in a bottling-house that han- 

 dled carloads of honey each year. I men- 

 tion this in order to show why I think one 



