August, 1921 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



485 



this appropriation to be used to pay the ex- 

 penses of getting up the exhibit. Secretary 

 George W. Dickinson of the Fair told me to 

 go to it, and if the beekeepers didn't re- 

 spond we might as well discontinue the de- 

 partment. But the beekeepers did respond. 



Supt. E. B. Tyrrell oN.uuining the first week's work 

 of an Italian swarm which he f-aught in Detroit 

 this year, and transferred to the Fair Grounds for 

 next fall's exhiVjit. This swarm had aready built 

 some comb in the tree when taken. 



They were a little timid at first, as it was 

 an untried experiment. The plan was for 

 the State Fair to select and purchase certain 

 glass and tin packages and labels and buy 

 them. These packages and labels would be 

 sent to the beekeepers who would agree to 

 put up the honey as directed and ship it to 

 the fair. At the close of the fair, the honey 

 was to be sold at wholesale, and the bee- 

 keepers would receive a good wholesale 

 price for their honey, instead of having the 

 honey sent back. The first year, each ex- 

 hibitor 's honey bore his number on the 

 label. Then a printed list of all exhibitors, 

 with their corresponding numbers, was fur- 

 nished those visiting the exhibit. In that 

 way, each purchaser of honey would be able, 

 by referring to the list, to know who pro- 

 duced it. Hundreds of these lists were given 

 away. 



Trying to Push Michigan Honey. 



But this plan was not the best because we 

 could not always make an equal distribution 

 of the exhibitors ' honey. And it centered 

 the buyer's attention on one exhibitor. 

 What we were trying to do was to push 

 Michigan honey, and not any one producer. 



We wanted them to think tlmt all honey on 

 exhibition at the Fair was good, and that all 

 exhibitors were worthy of equal confidence. 

 So the second year, the list was printed 

 without the numbers. No one could tell 

 which exhibitor produced the honey he 

 bought. And it was almost impossible for 

 the ones in charge to tell either. The printed 

 list was distributed again the second year, 

 with no numbers. Several thousands of these 

 were used. The same thing was done the 

 third or last year. 

 Ten Thousand Pounds of Honey Exhibited. 



In 1918, the first year the mutual exhibit 

 was tried, there was about 2,500 pounds of 

 honey on display. Much of it was sold dur- 

 ing the fair at retail, but there was quite a 

 lot left at the close to sell at wholesale. In 

 1919 the amount of honey was increased to 

 5,000 pounds, and only a very little was 

 left at the close of the Fair to sell at whole- 

 sale. In fact, orders were received during 

 the Fair for all there was left, to be deliv- 

 ered at the elos^ of the Fair. The 1920 ex- 

 hibit had 10,000 pounds of honey, and every 

 pound was sold and taken away during the 

 Fair, with many calls for more that could 

 not be supplied. 



The first year, tho beekeepers sent in the 

 honey and were paid what it brought at the 

 close of the Fair. We tried to get many to 

 send. The plan was expensive, as the ex- 

 press rates were high. Both packages to 

 the beekeepers and honey to the Fair were 

 sent by express. Some exhibitors did not 

 pack properly and there was loss by break- 



Secretary-Manager Michigan State Pair, G. W. Dick- 

 inson, getting acquainted with bees to be used in 

 this year's exhibit. 



