1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOLRNALo 



515 



added that one can find attractive variety for tree-planting 

 and not go beyond this single species. The common blue-gum 

 — eucalyptus globulus — the oneso generally seen in California, 

 is very tall and slender, while some of the red-gums, like 

 eucalyptus cltriodora and eucalyptus robusta, have a fine 

 spreading habit, and are very graceful in habit and form. 



The bloom of all is attractive and beautiful, and the deep 

 crimson blossoms of eucalyptus ficifolia always elicit praise 

 and admiration. While the most common period of bloom is 

 from September to May, there is no month in the year that 

 bloom may not be found in a park of eucalyptus trees, with 

 well selected varieties. The top-shape fruit of all species is 

 interesting, while the peculiar form and habit of bloom of 

 such species as eucalyptus corynocalyx must ever win admira- 

 tion, and create interest. 



The oil of eucalyptus is so peculiar that crusht leaves give 

 a very markt odor, and the air near a grove gives unmistak- 

 able evidence of the near proximity of the trees. Eucalyptus 

 essence and oil is used not a little in pharmacy. 



Of late I have secured some honey which undoubtedly is 

 eucalyptus. Of course there is no reason to suspect that the 

 peculiar flavor of the juice would be reproduced in the honey. 

 The nectar-glands make or form nectar from elements ob- 

 tained from the juice, and do not draw it all formed from the 

 juice. I was glad to find that this honey was light in color 

 and delicious of flavor. To be sure, this huney will always be 

 secured in the season when it will be useful for stimulation 

 and food of bees, yet in favorable seasons it may come in such 

 profusion as to be a generous supplement to the season's crop, 

 and it is good to know that in such case no harm will result. 

 Indeed, the common planting of these trees will add another 

 point to California's fame as the great honey-region of the 

 world. 



That the range of bloom makes the tree more desirable 

 will appear from the following data of a few species now most 

 in favor : 



The common blue-gum, E. globulus, is in bloom from 

 December to February; E. robusta, which is also much in 

 favor, has the same period of bloom. The honey I have came 

 from these species, I think. E. rostrata blooms in April and 

 May; E. cltriodora from August to December; the curious- 

 blossomed E. corynocalyx, from June to September; the bril- 

 liant ficifolia blooms In August and September. 



Mr. Barber, foreman of the Forestry Experiment Station, 

 at Santa Monica, speaks in special praise of the following 

 species for honey, which he says are swarming with bees on 

 all pleasant days while in blossom : E. calophylla, July to 

 October; E. corymbosa, August to December: E. globulus, 

 December to February ; E. robusta, December to February ; 

 E. polyanthemos, December to April. He also praises the 

 dwarf E. alpina, September to November, which will endure 

 some considerable frost, and has a peculiar habit of growth 

 which will make it more attractive. 



The bee-keeper may well rejoice, as the vigor, beauty, 

 fragrance, and long-continued bloom of these trees Insure 

 that they will be more and more extensively planted in our 

 State. The last feature makes them of special value to bee- 

 keepers. Abundant nectar-secretion in late summer, fall and 

 winter, makes them of much value for stimulative breeding. 



Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



No. 3.— The A B C of Marketing Houey. 



BY HERMAN F. MOORE. 

 [Continued from page 500.] 



If you leave the town and call at the farm houses, you 

 may think best to reduce your price two or three cents a 

 pound from your town price; but if you do so, by all means 

 double your size of package, or you will be placed, oftentimes, 

 in an embarrassing position, when your town customer meets 

 your farmer patron, and they compare notes on your price- 

 list. It is perfectly legitimate for you to take a smaller price 

 if you can thereby double the sale. This is simply wholesale 

 dealing applied to small transactions. 



Let me urge you to put the same price on liquid honey as 

 on comb, when both are of the best quality. Many, many 

 times I have been askt the question, " How does it come that 

 extracted honey can be bought for less than comb honey? I 

 should think it would be worth more?" The thought in their 

 minds is, that if pure it must, and should, bring more, as there 

 Is more actual honey in a pound of liquid honey than in a 

 pound of comb, the difference being, of course, the percent of 

 loss in wood and wax. My answer has been, "It is really 

 worth more to eat, and I get about the same price. You see, 

 we can produce more liquid honey from a colony of bees than 



comb, consequently our profit is greater on the clear than on 

 the comb honey, on account of more scientific and improved 

 methods of caring for our bees." 



I contend that there is no good reason why we should ac- 

 cept half the price of comb for houey without comb, if equally 

 good, well ripened and delicious. That the price is less in the 

 wholesale markets in the cities is no answer ; we are selling 

 In the retail markets exclusively. We care nothiug for the 

 wholesale markets, except as information. The wholesale 

 price of liquid honey has no claim to bind us ; our customers 

 would not touch it in those markets. When they buy our 

 honey they receive ojtryuara?iicc that the honey is pure and 

 delicious. That of itself is worth money. Liquid honey in 

 the cities goes to families at 20 to 25 cents a pound bottle, 

 and 12 to 15 cents for a half pound. The difference between 

 the so-called wholesale price of liquid honey and these retail 

 prices, make the profits of the commission merchant, the re- 

 tail grocer, the honey-bottler, the adulterator. In any case, 

 the producer of fine honey — either comb or clear — is rightfully 

 entitled to the profit of these middlemen, when he sells his 

 crop to the consumer. 



The most potent factor in all sales of goods is personal 

 acquaintance. Job lots of fancy-colored shirts sell for 59 

 cents each in the big department stores, and the fancy haber- 

 dasher gets two dollars apiece for a shirt that to the unini- 

 tiated looks very like, only the latter is made to measure, of 

 the best material, well stitcht, and neatly fashioned. 



An old customer and schoolmate of the writer, on his 

 death-bed, being almost unable to take any food, askt for 

 honey. The family sent to the nearest grocery for some, but 

 on finding whence it came, the sick man refused to touch it, 

 saying he wanted some of mine (I had supplied them honey 

 for years). The sick man's sister wrote me at once, 13 miles 

 away, to bring them a pail of houey quick, as her brother was 

 very ill, and wanted it. 



Honey has not come down so much in price as it seems to 

 the producer, who markets his crop through the commission 

 merchant and retail grocer. The commission man gets 10 

 percent, and the shipper pays freight and drayage. The re- 

 tall grocer gets 40, 50, or 75 percent on his purchase of your 

 fine comb honey ; you get 11 to 12 cents a pound, and the 

 consumer pays IS to 20 cents a pound. I knew of one store 

 that sold gilt-edged Wisconsin honey in one-pound sections for 

 25 cents a pound, within the past two years. 



For a package of comb honey the most succeesf ul I find is 

 the 12-pound, two-row case. You can sell this from S1.80 

 to $2.40 a case, and will find hundreds of families that will 

 take from one to five of them in a year's business. I think we 

 should all aim to get as near 20 cents a pound for our honey 

 as possible. That is low enough for fine, delicious honey, and 

 five cents cheaper than the old-time price when I was a boy. 



The no-drip shipping-case is more work, and unnecessary, 

 if you hand your honey directly to consumers. 



How best to advertise your honey and yourself to your 

 trade will always be one of the burning questions. You can't 

 avoid a certain amount of advertising of yourself along with 

 your goods. People seem to desire a personal acquaintance 

 with those they patronize, no doubt rightfully concluding that 

 a man of high aims and broad thought is a good man to de- 

 pend upon for pure food. 



To always sell the best goods Is the first and most impor- 

 tant way to advertise. 



By all means limit yourself to 12 pounds to the gallon for 

 extracted honey, never less in weight. Twelve-pound extracted 

 honey will almost run comb out of the market at the same 

 price per pound. Most people buying thin, unripe honey, de- 

 cide at once that it is half glucose. This, of course, works 

 dead against the man who sells such stuff, and it has usually 

 been the retail grocer who has suffered for a fault that be- 

 longed to the producer who rusht the thin stuff to market 

 through the commission merchant. 



As to comb honey, too much scraping of the sections is no 

 advantage when selling to your family trade. The fine, de- 

 licious flavor is the main thing, and must be secured even at 

 the expense of looks. People are so used to having goods of 

 all kinds look pretty, and then utterly fail on the table, that 

 I have felt as if too great beauty and attractiveness were a 

 disadvantage rather than otherwise. For example: One- 

 pound combs, so pretty that the customer instantly decides 

 " no bee made that." Attract the eye, by all means if you 

 can, but be sure you charm the palate first and foremost. 



In starting out to get orders, take a fair sample of your 

 comb (one section) and one of your pails half full of liquid 

 honey. Never try to sell extracted honey alone. People will 

 go for you like this : " You haven't got comb honey ?" " You 

 are selling this manufactured honey ?" "How much glucose do 

 you use ?" etc. The presence of some comb honev shuts their 



