AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



693 



'\^ite, Fancy White, Fancy Amber, No. 

 ]r Amber, Fancy Dark, and Dark." 

 Another, from Missouri, says his will 

 grade "No. 1 White, No. 2 White, No. 

 1 Amber, and No. 2 Amber. 



Our firm just received a carload of 

 white comb honey from California. The 

 shipper makes two grades — No. 1 White, 

 and No. 2 White — and I presume if 

 there had been any amber in the car he 

 would have graded it the same way, and 

 called it No. 1 Amber, and No. 2 Am- 

 ber. This meets my idea about grades. 



Different sections of the country have 

 very different ideas on this subject ; this 

 is one good reason why a uniform sys- 

 tem of grading should be established ; 

 and in order to accomplish this, I find 

 no good reason to change my views on 

 this subject from those advanced by me 

 two years ago at a meeting of the Mis- 

 souri State Bee-Keepers' Association. I 

 believe as few grades as possible is the 

 best, and I do not believe in grading too 

 high. 



One of my reasons for making two 

 grades of white and two of amber is, 

 there is a great deal of light amber 

 honey that will bring almost as much 

 money as No. 1 White, but could not be 

 classed in that grade, and too good to be 

 graded No. 2. If you only have three 

 grades, you would have to have white 

 and amber in No. 2 ; and in making a 

 sale you would have to designate how 

 much of your No. 2 was white, and how 

 much was amber, hence I think it just 

 as necessary to have two grades of am- 

 ber as it is to have two grades of white ; 

 therefore, in the absence of a standard 

 grade, the dealer must require the pro- 

 ducer or seller to send a sample. If he 

 sends the best he can pick out, or even 

 an average case, there will generally be 

 some in the lot that will not come fully 

 up to the sample, and the buyer 

 " kicks," and requires a rebate. If you 

 send a sample of the poorest, then you 

 fail to get market value for your crop. 

 So, in order to bring the producer and 

 dealer together on a simple basis where 

 transactions can be made with justice 

 and satisfaction to all parties, we should 

 be careful to not grade too high, make 

 as few grades as possible, and as liberal 

 as can be done consistent with encourag- 

 ing improvement and progress towards 

 higher grades. 



Most of our largest producers in Mis- 

 souri only make two grades of their 

 comb honey, and I can say with safety 

 that their No. 1 white honey will com- 

 pare favorably with any honey marked 

 '* fancy," and bring as much money. 



As stated before, I think four grades 



of comb honey (and by the grades being 

 as suggested) will permit all good, 

 merchantable honey, with only such re- 

 strictions as will protect the producer, 

 and worl< no imposition to the dealer. 



You will observe I specify " good 

 flavor " in all grades, so the dealer in 

 ordering honey would expect good 

 flavor, of whatever grade received. 

 Flavors may differ according to the blos- 

 som, whether white clover, sage, bass- 

 wood, Spanish-needle, or from any other 

 blossom ; but if of " good flavor " would 

 fill the bill. And all honey not coming 

 under this system of grading should be 

 put on the market as ungraded, and sold 

 on its merits. 



In regard to packages, I think a uni- 

 form style of package should be adopted, 

 and universally used. There is nothing 

 more unsightly than a stack of comb 

 honey put up in a lot of packages all 

 sizes and shapes. On the other hand, 

 what is more pleasing than to see it ar- 

 ranged from packages of a uniform style 

 and finish. I would suggest the single- 

 tier crate, holding 12, 18 or 24 sections. 

 I would have nothing larger than 24, 

 all made of white wood with glass 

 fronts. And as the railroad companies 

 require the glass to be covered, I would 

 suggest that the box factories, in mak- 

 ing boxes, provided for this new (but 

 unreasonable) law by having strips for 

 this purpose. 



The tight-wood boxes should never be 

 used, as it is necessary to open the boxes 

 to take the sections out to show to cus- 

 tomers, causing not only a loss of time, 

 but more or less damage to the honey. 

 The retailer has no use for the tight- 

 wood cases (and he is the fellow to be 

 pleased in the end) ; he can take the 

 white-wood glass-front boxes and make 

 a fine display, and this aids greatly in 

 selling. 



I do not think that any improvement 

 can be made on the 5-gallon tin can, 

 screw top, two in a wooden case, for ex- 

 tracted honey. 



In conclusion, I hope before another 

 " Columbian Convention " is held, that 

 we will all have the pleasure of seeing 

 some satisfactory and uniform style of 

 grading and packages adopted. 



C. C. Clemo^^s. 



After Mr. demons' essay, the subject 

 was discussed as follows : 



R. F. Holterman thought the grading 

 of comb honey too low, that of extracted 

 too high, as mentioned in Mr. demons' 

 essay. There was comb honey at the 

 World's Fair too high to grade properly 



