1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAlU 



531 



Again, there are conditions in common conducive to 

 health and the prevention of these troubles : 



1. Clean combs, with plenty of fresh pollen In the hive. 



2. Continued fine weather, with both honey and natural 

 pollen coming in. 



3. The absence of brood-rearing — a queenless colony. 



These latter conditions present no pickled brood will oc- 

 cur, and In only extreme cases will paralysis continue. The 

 former conditions present whole colonies will be depopulated 

 in a few hours with either disease before anything can be 

 done to relieve them. 



In the treatment of " pickled brood" I have recommended, 

 with the best of success, the removal of all old pollen, and if 

 no new natural pollen were coming in, giving the bees access 

 to sterilized artificial pollen. Unbolted wheat or rye flour 

 thoroughly heated — not baked — makes a good substitute for 

 pollen. 



Another point worthy of special attention is access to 

 plenty of pure water; even when brood-rearing is going on in 

 such weather as bees are temporarily unable to leave the hive 

 pure water will be eagerly taken from feeders, and with a 

 sanitary benefit. 



Last spring several bee-keepers wrote to me and consulted 

 me personally in regard to paralysis ; in all cases I askt that 

 dying and dead bees be sent to me for examination. A careful 

 study, and experiments made by removing the alimentary 

 tract and cultivating the contents in a moist chamber, have in 

 all cases developt the white fungus {aspenjULus polHni) of 

 pickled brood ; and in all cases several of the above-mentioned 

 conditions favorable to the disease were present. The re- 

 moval of the old pollen, and the substitution of artificial pol- 

 len, have yielded satisfactory results. 



In many cases where it was advisable to open the hives, 

 the access to artificial pollen until natural pollen could be ob- 

 tained had the desired effect. The most common cause here, 

 last spring, was that in the very height of brood-rearing, when 

 bees were nearly ready to swarm, a heavy frost came, killing 

 everything green, which caused a cessation of natural pollen 

 for ten days, in which case all the pollen in the hive was con- 

 sumed ; this, with a few days' confinement on account of daily 

 rains, brought about very unsanitary conditions, causing the 

 diseases to develop. 



If any one having a case of paralysis will send me a few 

 bees placed in a sterilized bottle, well corkt, I will gladly in- 

 vestigate and report the results. 



502 Main St., Ft. Worth., Tex. 



[We trust that our readers will avail themselves of the 

 kindly offer made by Dr. Howard in his last paragraph, and 

 send him samples not only of paralysis, but of any other dis- 

 ease that they fear their bees may be suffering from. We 

 shall be very pleased to publish the Doctor's reports thereon. 

 With every copy of Dr. Howard's book on " Foul Brood " that 

 we mall at 25 cents, we also mail free a leaflet on " Pickled 

 Brood." — Editor. ] 



No. 4.— The A B C of Marketiug Honey. 



BY HERMAN F. MOORE. 

 [Continued from page 516.1 



In conversing with the people, you must avoid certain 

 subjects. Never mention sugar syrup, for the people are all 

 too ready to believe that many bee-keepers feed sugar syrup 

 and sell it for honey. My answer always is, "No bee-keeper 

 practices that." But this same thought is fired at me nearly 

 every day. 



In all trades and vocations there are things and methods 

 that need not be given to the public. In our pursuit, the feed- 

 ing of bees for winter stores, or stimulative feeding of sugar 

 syrup in spring, and the wholesale price of extracted honey 

 should be kept from the general honey-eating public. All the 

 great lines of business and manufacture guard most zealously 

 their cost prices, cost of manufacture, wholesale prices to 

 dealers, etc. One principal reason is that the consumer can't, 

 or won't, understand how much profit one must have to pay 

 expenses and leave a margin. If he knows your profit he 

 won't buy of you, for he thinks you are making too much 

 money out of him. 



The line, " I will feed you sugar syrup," that occurred in 

 a poem in a bee-paper, never could get into a paper that I 

 controlled. 



Now for actual work among the people : Early in 1887 

 the writer hitcht the bay colt to the family carriage and 

 started on his first trip selling honey to the farmers of Seneca 



county, Ohio. Two or three dozen jars of honey were loaded 

 Into the carriage, being packtin boxes to prevent breakage. 



My first start was made by sending for a 60-pound can of 

 the best white clover honey. This came duly to hand, and 

 was emptied out into the jars and other dishes, by tipping up 

 the can. and, when full, cutting off the stream of honey with a 

 case-knife, that being, I believe, before the day of the honey- 

 gate, or at least before I had one. 



Many families were visited in this way through the farm 

 country, and more or less sales made. I suppose the colt and 

 I were both somewhat fractious, for I can well remember when 

 I slapt her hard for not agreeing with me on some subject, 

 she gave a sudden jump, lifting the front wheels of the 

 carriage and knocking out the bottoms of several of my glass 

 jars. That was my first big daub; but it has been continued 

 with variations ever since, so that a dish of water and a rag 

 are my constant companions. I mention this now, when it 

 occurs to me, for I heartily recommend the rag and water. If 

 you wish to live in peace with your better half and the neigh- 

 bors, and if you don't wish to accumulate your neighbors' 

 stocks of flies, don't try to do your cleaning up of honey-spills 

 once a week, but instantly apply the rag-and-water cure when 

 first discovered. 



After following this plan for some time I became dissatis- 

 fied with it, for farm houses are too far apart, and farmers 

 are too thrifty, and spend their money too sparingly to make 

 good trade. Then, I was compelled to sell for a price that 

 did not pay, owing to many farmers keeping their own bees. 



By going to my county towns 10 miles away I could get 3 

 to 5 cents a pound more for my honey. Then instead of a 

 quarter mile between prospective customers, I made calls 

 almost every 20 feet. Of course, I could not well carry a load 

 with me in the carriage and stop so often, so I naturally fell 

 Into the drummer's way of selling by sample. 



Taking a quart Mason fruit-jar half full of delicious 

 clover honey under my arm, I " made a break" for the little 

 city of TiflSn — determined to win, or die in the attempt. ■ My 

 report read like the Roman's— " Veni, vidi, vici " — " I came, 

 I saw, I conquered"— for in a very short time 800 pounds of 

 liquid honey were sold and delivered to Tiffin families. I be- 

 lieve the price was 15 cents a pound, and 10 cents extra for 

 the jar. Those were the days when Mason jars cost us $12 

 for 12 dozen, and were well worth 10 cents to any family. 



How did I do it? Well, I took my sample jar and order- 

 book and pencil, and started down the first street I came to, 

 calling at every bouse. Then I took every street in town run- 

 ning that way ; then, every street crossing the first lot of 

 streets, taking every street in order. Sometimes I would 

 make a nice sale in the last house In a row, when the tempta- 

 tion was to skip those, "for they won't buy anyway." 



Taking the first house I came to, I went to the front door 

 and rapt, or rang the doorbell. My mother had taught me 

 always to be neat and clean, and I have never been mistaken 

 for a tramp or a disreputable person. You will find, if you 

 circulate at all extensively, that even such a thing as this may 

 count heavily in your favor when among strangers. They 

 must of necessity judge you at a glance by your appearance. 



When the lady came to the door I said, " Good morning. 

 Are you fond of honey ? I have some here In the jar "—(hold- 

 ing It up and rolling It so as to show the body and clearness). 

 "Will you please get a teaspoon and try it?" 



This method of approach seemed to take a good many off 

 their guard, so much so that some would even ask, "Are you 

 selling it ?" If I had said in the start, " Do you want to buy 

 some honey?" 99 out of 100 would answer, "No\" with an 

 emphasis. 



The lady went for the teaspoon. I dipt it in the honey 

 and gave her a liberal taste. If there were others — children, 

 neighbors, relatives, present — I saw that each and every one 

 had a taste of the honey. The little boy or girl saying — "Oh, 

 mamma, ain't that nice? Get some" — has often made a sale. 



Some people are skeptical, and you will find those who 

 know least or nothing about bees and honey, are most so. 

 Those who have had bees, or who have had honey from friends 

 who had bees, are easy to handle. Ordinarily they are satis- 

 fied by the smell and taste as to the purity of your honey. 



You will find the best argument in the whole catalog to , 

 use with skeptical people is, "My honey Is pure houey. I 

 never sell anything else. I keep bees over In Melville, 100 

 colonies. I take honey in July out of my own bee-hives. 

 Come over any time and I will show you my bees, and how I 

 get the honey away from them." 



This Is the best course, when you will find again and 

 ag,i,ln that no words you can use will change their idea that 

 " there is lots of manufactured honey on the market." "All 

 liquid honey is mixt." Arguing with a mac has very often 

 had the same effect as I am told it has to argue with a man 



