1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



213 



quite warm in the spring, and if I wish to 

 I take off a little straw at a time. For ex- 

 ample I would take it down to the cover 

 some warm day, and then wait quite a while 

 before taking the remainder of the straw 

 out. To take it all out at once might chill 

 the brood. Leave the straw on the hives as 

 long as it will be safe. You can tell by the 

 fanning at the entrance when the bees 

 are too warm; then move part of the straw. 



No doubt this way of packing is old to 

 most of you; but there may be a few who 

 haven't heard of this method of wintering 

 bees. Those who haven't any cellar can 

 pack their bees in straw, and they are more 

 apt to winter well outdoors than if they were 

 put in a cellar. If they are packed as I 

 have described, especially if the man own- 

 ing the bees has not had considerable ex- 

 perience in cellar wintering, one good thing 

 is this: My bees get several good winter- 

 flights. Another is, they begin to raise 

 brood early. Both winters I have had very 

 early brood-rearing; and my colonies are 

 very strong for the white-clover flow. 



Velpen, Ind. 



ARE SECTIONS DETRIMENTAL TO THE 

 HONEY MARKET? 



A Discussion of the Weight of Sections of 



Honey and the Systems of Selling Them. 



Continued from Last Issue. 



BY G. C. GREINER. 



The next and by far the most vital point 

 which our chunk-honey friends misrepresent 

 is the weight question. Mr. Bohrer says in 

 the article previously referred to, page 814, 

 " It seldom weighs a pound, oftener falling 

 short three or four ounces, yet it sells in 

 most cases at pound prices, not by weight 

 but by the piece. ' ' How unreasonable ! Did 

 Mr. B. ever weigh and examine a one-pound 

 section (by size) that weighed four ounces 

 less than a pound? I don't think he has, 

 otherwise he would know that no sane bee- 

 keeper would try to palm off such a deficient 

 specimen for a full sized section at full 

 price. It would be right out and out dis- 

 honest; and as honesty is always the best 

 policy the section-producer is not short-sight- 

 ed enough to cut his own wings by such a 

 proceeding. Even if we had the disposition 

 to do so, and I hope there are not many pf 

 this kind in our ranks, it would be next to 

 impossible. In the first place, when retail- 

 ing them ourselves the consumer would not 

 accept them at full price; and, secondly, 

 they could not be shipped on account of their 

 frailty. A good share of them would be 

 broken from the wood in transit. 



A one-pound section of honey that weighs 

 four ounces less than a pound can be one of 

 two kinds. It is either from two-thirds to 

 three-fourths built out, and all finished cap- 

 ped honey, or it is all built out and very lit- 

 tle if any capped, and yet may contain quite 

 a little loose honey. The former we sort 

 out and dispose of in various ways. Making 



practical application of the principle that 

 the more we use the better the price will be, 

 we reserve a liberal quantity for our own 

 table. We have it on the table every day, 

 and use all we can of it. Then we distribute 

 the same among our friends and acquain- 

 tances as occasion may dictate; and what is 

 left then we sell as chunk honey at reduced 

 rates, although I am not favorably impress- 

 ed with the idea of doing so. 



The latter kind, and every thing in the 

 shape of drawn comb with little or no cap- 

 ped honey, is reserved for next season's 

 bait combs, after the honey has been clean- 

 ed out by the bees. 



Our friends advise us to sell sections by 

 weight. If they had given their well-meant 

 advice a second thought they would have 

 come to the conclusion that this is not only 

 impracticable but impossible. If we should 

 undertake it, it would amount to the same 

 thing as selling by the piece, only in a some- 

 what reversed fashion. Instead of selling 

 different-weight sections at the same price 

 we should have to sell even- weight sections 

 at different prices, and that would create 

 new difficulties and dissatisfaction. 



If the weight of our sections ran at even 

 ounces, or approximately so, their prices 

 could be easily adjusted. For instance, at 

 16 cts. a pound the prices of sections weigh- 

 ing 15, 16, and 17 ounces would be just that 

 many cents re-i'pectively. But what should 

 we do with all the bet weens, and the great 

 majority are of this kind? What price 

 should we ask for a section weighing 16^ oz. ? 

 We have no smaller fractional currency than 

 cents, so that the half-ounce value could not 

 be affixed in exact change with the currency 

 at our command. The only way would be 

 for the dealer to charge the purchaser 17 

 cts., making him pay for half an ounce he 

 does not get, or charge 16 cts. and throw in 

 the half-ounce without getting his pay for 

 the same. It would be as unjust for one as 

 for the other to lose the half -ounce, and who 

 should it be? To help us out, custom comes 

 to our assistance and decides the matter. 



It is customary, and has been ever since I 

 can remember, that the dealer takes the ad- 

 vantage when the exact change can't be 

 made. If the half-change of 25 cts. is to be 

 made, the dealer retains 13 and gives 12 in 

 return, and nobody finds fault about it. The 

 same principle must be applied to sections 

 and all articles that can not be equaled by 

 even money value. 



As I am regularly on the city market I 

 take a stroll occasionally up and down the 

 line of producers and dealers for the purpose 

 of investigating; and I find that nearly all 

 business is transacted by the piece system. 



One of my neighbors has a load of cab- 

 bage. A partition crosswise the wagon-box 

 separates them into two different grades, 

 one kind averaging a little larger than the 

 other. I ask the price, and he says, 

 "These," pointing to the larger kind, "are 

 three for ten cents, and the others are two 

 for five. " Now, his cabbage in either grade 

 are by no means alike. They vary from the 



