1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



859 



rocks that used to be occupied by wild bees 

 are often now to be seen occupied by Ital- 

 ians or half-breeds. If bee-keepers are 

 careful to keep up pure Italian stock it 

 seems that, in time, the black strain will 

 disappear entirely among the wild bees of 

 the island. 

 Boscobel, Barbados. 



COMB-HONEY GRADING-RULES. 



Only One Bee-keeper out of Ten Understands 



Grading; Gleanings Rules Preferable to 



Washington. 



Editor's Note.— Our readers will remember the article 

 by Wm. Muth-Rasmussen, on page 536, May 15, concern- 

 ing the confusion in the comb-honey grading-rules. By 

 referring to this page it will be seen that there is a dif- 

 ference between the Washington grading-rules in the 

 Review and those given in Gleanings; and the ques- 

 tion naturally asked is, " Which are correct ?" Realiz- 

 ing that this matter is important, we wrote to a 

 number of honey-dealers, calling their attention to the 

 discussion, and requesting their opinion. We have 

 heard from but a few of those to whom we wrote, but 

 we take pleasure in giving those here. 



Mr. Root:— We have your letter of May 

 18, concerning the article by Mr. Muth- 

 Rasmussen, about the confusion of grading- 

 rules, and in reply will state that we are 

 always glad to give any assistance or opin- 

 ions that we can on this important question. 

 In handling the enormous amount of honey 

 that a jobber does in the course of a season, 

 he has a sufficient chance to find out how 

 much some bee-keepers know in regard to 

 grading honey. In putting the matter plain, 

 we might state that only one out of ten 

 understands the grading of honey, or, even 

 if more do, they do not take the time and 



Eains to follow the instructions that have 

 een given from time to time. Take the 

 Washington grading, for instance. Accord- 

 ing to our experience we could not go by 

 this at all. The fancy grade might pass in 

 some instances, but the No. 1 would look 

 better in a grade of about No. 3 than any 

 other place. We have a trade, as no doubt 

 every other jobber in a large city has, that 

 demands the very finest thing that can be 

 secured in comb honey, and they are willing 

 to pay a good price. For this trade we put 

 out what we call and market as ' ' extra 

 fancy. ' ' The sections are all to be filled to 

 the brim on all four sides; the honey shall 

 be snow-white, and the sections all scraped 

 clean of propolis. No unsealed cells may ap- 

 pear in this honey. Then our Fancy and No. 



1 are the same as those in the Gleanings 

 grading, but we have very little sale for No. 



2 honey, and no sale whatever for No. 3, as 

 we think all No. 3 honey where sections are 

 only half filled should never be sold by any 

 bee-keeper; and it is our opinion that this 

 kind of honey is worth too much to the bee- 

 keeper to keep as bait sections for another 

 season. Then in grading amber honey a 

 fancy and No. 1 are the only grades we have 

 any calls for here, with the exception of 

 buckwheat. A great many bee-keepers 

 make a serious mistake in not following the 

 grading-rules as given in the journals; and 



a great many of them seem to think that, as 

 long as they put a nice row of honey next to 

 the glass, they can put any thing back of 

 this; and as long as their commission man or 

 jobber does not have time to look at it when 

 they bring it in, all well and good, just as 

 long as they get their money for it. A 

 great mistake is made by a large part of the 

 bee-keepers in using foundation starters in 

 their sections only, as the bees are apt to 

 fasten only the sides and top, and not the 

 bottom of the section. This causes a serious 

 breakage in honey when shipping, no matter 

 how carefully packed. Griggs Bros. 



Toledo, Ohio, May 19. 



standard for "fancy" should be 

 higher. 



Mr. Editor:— Yonra of May 18th regarding 

 grading-rules is at hand. We have always 

 thought that your definition of fancy comb 

 honey would not come up to the require- 

 ments in Canada. We should not consider 

 as ' • fancy ' ' any comb honey with most of 

 the outside row of cells uncapped. Comb 

 honey that does not show any open uncap- 

 ped cells when placed in shipping-crate, with 

 three-inch glass, would be considered fancy. 

 Our No. 1 in Toronto would be about equal 

 to your "fancy." The other would range 

 accordingly. E. Grainger & Co. 



Toronto, Can., May 30. 



[You have evidently confused the Glean- 

 ings rules with those of the Washington. 

 Gleanings "Fancy" does not permit of 

 ' ' most of the outside row of cells uncapped. ' ' 

 -Ed.] 



neither grading followed ; a wide va- 

 riation FROM different PRODUCERS 

 on the same grade. 



Mr. E. R. i^oo^;— Replying to yours of 

 May 8, asking for our opinion on the grad- 

 ing of honey, we would say that, on this 

 market, neither of the gradings mentioned 

 is strictly followed. It seems to us that, in 

 attempting to grade into "fancy," A 1, No. 

 1, and No. 2, sufficient latitude is not allow- 

 ed, and, as a result, no two men will agree 

 as to what would go into A 1 and No. 1. 

 The result is a wide variation in honey of 

 the same grade from different growers. 

 This has naturally led to a grading which 

 may be peculiar to this market, and which, 

 in our judgment, is very much simpler. We 

 speak of "fancy," No. 1, choice, and light- 

 weight. The term fancy would cover prac- 

 tically the same as you have it in Glean- 

 ings. This should include the finest, both 

 as regards color and filling, to be had. 



No. 1 would take in all of what is covered 

 by the term A 1, and part of what is now 

 called No. 1. We think the term choice 

 better than No. 2. According to the accept- 

 ed phraseology. No. 2 would mean inferior 

 in quality; but in honey this does not nec- 

 essarily follow. The quality of No. 2 is in 

 most instances quite equal to that of No. 

 1. We are now speaking of the eating qual- 

 ity alone. In the sale of honey it is the 



