122 



THE AMERICAN APICULTUBIST. 



For pound sections, I have adopted 

 a plan which proves generally sat- 

 isfactor}^, of putting a piece of 

 square pine deal, one-sixteenth of 

 an inch thick, and as large as the 

 section, on each side, and slipping 

 a rubber band round it. These 

 thin boards can be furnished the 

 retailer with the crates to be used 

 by him, and, as they are inexpen- 

 sive, will detract but little from 

 the profits of the producer, 



WHAT SIZE BOX SHALL WE USE ? 



In the matter of boxes we are 

 wholly at the mercy of the market 

 again. He who expects to dispose 

 of any goods at remunerative 

 prices must put them up in such 

 shape that they will please the eye 

 by their attractiveness, and suit 

 the condition of the pocket book 

 of the would-be-purchaser. 



One great objection found to 

 comb honey when put up in large 

 packages is that it cannot be han- 

 dled without difficulty on account 

 of dripping, thus making it almost 

 impossible to put up a broken 

 package in neat shape. The one 

 pound section has seemed to fill 

 the bill, as the shape is neat and 

 attractive, and the size is such 

 that anyone who can afford the 

 luxury at all can afford to buy that 

 size and it can be put up in a sim- 

 ple paper package so as to be car- 

 ried safely in the hottest weather. 

 Demand and supply usually ac- 

 commodate themselves to each 

 other, and if the demand is for a 

 larger or smaller section than one 

 pound it will l)e known at once, 

 and a supply will follow. The 



principal question is, will it pay to 

 put up comb honey in sections 

 smaller than one pound? All bee- 

 keepers know well that it will not 

 unless a considerably higher price 

 is offered for the smaller sections. 

 My experience has been, that honey 

 can be gathered in two pound 

 sections considerably cheaper than 

 in one pound ; and that when honey 

 is selling for twenty-five cents per 

 pound in one pound sections, forty 

 cents at least should be realized 

 for it in one-half pound, in order 

 to make the same ratio of profit. 

 But, as I said before, the producer 

 must watch the state of the market 

 (which as yet has not become very 

 sensitive) and do his best to cater 

 to its requirements. As our peo- 

 ple begin to learn the value of 

 extracted honej'^, and that dealers 

 are serving them to a pure article, 

 the question of comb hone}^ will 

 be of little consequence ; and the 

 final result will be that extracted 

 honej^ will become a necessity, and 

 have a ready sale at a fair price, 

 while comb honey will be reckoned 

 a luxury-, and command a fancy 

 price depending upon the laws that 

 usually govern trade. 



Foxboro, Mass., Aug., 1883, 



THE CAUCASIAN BEES. 



By Julius Hoffman. 



In 1880 I received my first im- 

 portation of Caucasian bees from 

 Weadikowsky, a section in the 

 Caucasus mountains. 



