January, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BRE CULTURE 



11 



as a food during the past three or four 

 yeai-s, and the continuous advertising of 

 the Root Co., are putting extracted honey 

 on the table as a food for evei-y-day use. 



SOME BEEKEEPERS in the South have 



Jone a nice busi- 

 I'OUND- ness in shipping 



PACKAGE bees in combless 



ADVERTISIXG packages to the 

 North. Others 

 liave not been so successful, mainly because 

 they have set their prices too low to cover 

 cost of cage, advertising, and replacements. 

 Numerous complaints have been received 

 regarding the advertiser who fails to make 

 satisfactorj' replacements of combless bees 

 that have died en route. Some shippers 

 contend that their prices are so low that 

 the beekeeper ought not to expect a re- 

 placement. If the purchaser had known 

 that the guarantee did not cover replace- 

 ment he would have ordered of the other 

 fellow. This failure to replace has caused 

 no end of dissatisfaction, with the result 

 that these shipi^ers will not get very much 

 of the trade of the coming year. 



In view of the complaints that we have 

 received. Gleanings has decided it will 

 accept no advertisement from any pound- 

 jiackage man unless he will furnish satis- 

 factory references, guaranteeing pure stock 

 and safe arrival. This means that, in the 

 event the bees are not pure or fail to come 

 thru in good order, the shipper will make 

 another shipment or return enough money 

 to cover the shortage, whatever that may 

 be. In some cases where the shortage is 

 small he can make it up by sending a 

 queen by mail. 



On the other hand Gleanings believes 

 that it is only fair for the consignee to 

 paj' express charges on the second lot of 

 beas received; and he should also furnish 

 a statement from the express agent certi- 

 fying the condition of each shipment of 

 bees on arrival. 



A copy of this editorial will be sent to 

 each person who seeks to advertise comb- 

 less bees in these columns, and he will be 

 asked to agi-ee to the above conditions. 

 Failing to comply, his advertisement will 

 be rejected. 



As a general thing the beekeeper who will 

 furnish bees at cutrate prices, or those 

 considerably below the average of his com- 

 petitors, will be less inclined to make a 

 satisfactory replacement. While we do not 

 wish to dictate prices we do feel that the 

 pound-package man should charge a price 



sullicient to enable him to take care of re- 

 placements. That is to say, he ought, in 

 addition to the cost of the package and 

 cost of bees, add at least 25 per cent to 

 cover replacement. While the majority of 

 shipments will go thru in good order there 

 will be a few where the loss will be com- 

 plete, and others wliere the loss will be 

 only partial. During extremely hot weath- 

 er shipper should allow for at least 50 per 

 cent replacement in order to be on the 

 safe side. 



It may be expected that as a rule it 

 will be safe to buy of the man who fur- 

 nished good bees the past season. The 

 buyer however should be eareful about 

 giving a large order to an entii^ely new 

 man, especially if he offers extremely low 

 prices. The old rule, that " the cheapest 

 may be the dearest," applies exactly to 

 the pound-package business. 



THE READER will notice some marked 

 changes in this Gleanings. Besides the 



fact that the 



THE NEW 



MONTHLY 



GLEANINGS 



journal is now a 

 monthly, its gen- 

 eral make - up, 

 style, and ap- 

 pearance are those of a magazine. The 

 cover, as will be noted, is printed in colors. 

 The artistic improvement in its entire typo- 

 graphical make-up will be apjiarent to 

 every reader. 



In arrangement of reading matter, edi- 

 torials lead off as heretofore; but all news 

 items that have formerly gone into this de- 

 partment will go under a separate head, 

 " Just News," in the back j^art of the jour- 

 nal. Editorials will be followed by feature 

 and special articles of some length. Next 

 follows " From the Field of Experience." 

 Tliis will consist of short articles along the 

 line of what has apjieai-ed in our columns 

 in the past under the head of " General 

 Correspondence." The regular depart- 

 ments, with several additions to their for- 

 mer number, follow. 



The children and some old folks will 

 doubtless be interested in " Mother Goose," 

 by M. G. P. In the present issue it will not 

 be difficult to see the resemblance between 

 " Honeycomb Section " and the Humptj^- 

 Dumpty of old. 



We wish to call the jDarticular attention 

 of our readers to the " Letters from a Bee- 

 keeper's Wife," that will run thru the en- 

 tire year. They relate actual experiences; 

 and as they are written in story fonn they 

 will interest the old as well as the young — 

 particularlv that class of readers who had 



