Dec. 28, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL 



823 



the easy, don't care, go-as-you-please bee-keepers suffering^ 

 the severest punishment for their carelessness. Experi- 

 ence is said to be a good teacher, but whilst this is true it 

 is rather expensive at times. Another maxim is, "What- 

 ever is worth doing is worth doing well." The latter is 

 most applicable to bee-keepers, especially now. Those who 

 have neglected preparing their bees for the winter's storms 

 should make haste and use the greatest care possible. 



Somerset Co., Pa., Nov. 20. 



Packing-, Grading- and Marlceting- Honey. 



BY N. J. COOLEY. 



(Read before tlie Inyo County Bee- Keepers" Association, 

 of California.) 



THERE has been much discussion on packing honey, oc- 

 casioned by an article by Mr. Doolittle, in Gleanings 

 in Bee-Culture, in 1898, in which he upheld that it was 

 not dishonest to face cases with white honey and put in- 

 ferior or dark honey in the body of the case, when sent to 

 commission houses. He was " roasted " on all sides for his 

 views, and letters were sent to commission houses thruout 

 the country by the American Bee Journal asking their 

 views. The unanimous verdict was that the bee-keeper got 

 the worst of the deal in every instance when the goods were 

 examined and sold on their merits. Mr. York summed up 

 the whole proposition in these words : 



"To face comb honey for market is wrong every time 

 and everywhere." 



The question for us to consider is what constitutes 

 "facing." S. T. Fish & Co. instructed me, in repacking 

 honey, to put none but honey of a certain grade in a case, 

 but in putting sections next the glass to put the best and 

 most perfect side out. I believe that facing to that extent 

 is justified and desirable. Peycke Bros, condemn the prac- 

 tice of some producers, of putting good honey on the face 

 but insisting upon slipping in a few imperfectly filled sec- 

 tions, thus placing the whole shipment under suspicion. 

 Producers who put up their goods in this manner not only 

 injure their own reputation but that of every producer in 

 their vicinity. 



A traveling-man a few days ago told me that on a visit 

 to Bishop the past fall he was shown some beautiful apples 

 by a rancher who had them for sale. Altho apples were 

 plentiful at his home they were inferior to those exhibited, 

 and thinking that it would be a treat to his family and 

 friends, he ordered a box, and on his arrival home praised 

 in extravagant terms Inyo apples, and the exhibit he would 

 soon make of them. You can perhaps imagine his disgust 

 upon opening the box he had paid a fancy price for, with 

 freight added, to find all but the top layer hardly fit for hog- 

 feed. That box might have sold SO others had it been hon- 

 estly packt, but under the circumstances it may head off 

 many a prospective purchaser. 



Hotel keepers at Hawthorne told me they bought their 

 eggs at Omaha because they were better' and fresher than 

 those from Inyo. 



If we ever expect to obtain a ready and regular market 

 for our products we must stop selling cider-apples, rotten 

 eggs and refuse honey as first-class goods. When people 

 place their coin, confidence and consignments in our hands, 

 they have reason to expect an honest deal, and if they fail 

 to get it they will look elsewhere in making their purchases. 

 In buying honey last fall I was compelled to insist on 

 some honey being repackt and graded, and to reject some 

 altogether, because of inferior honey being put in that 

 should have been kept for home use and extraction ; and 

 still, in one car, upon arrival at destination, there were 

 •over 300 cases leaky, mostly caused by defective sections. 



Last year there was a shortage in many localities and 

 buyers were not very particular, and the fact of Eastern 

 parties sending their coin here and buying the honey at our 

 doors was accountable in a measure to the short crop in the 

 East. I, as their buyer, tried to impress upon the people 

 here the importance of sending only first-class goods, and 

 thus gain a reputation that would be of benefit to us in the 

 future. One of our business men, who doubted the possi- 

 bility of making arrangements for a cash sale of our honey, 

 when the deal was consummated said, " It's a godsend to 

 ■our people, but they don't know it." 



I have some letters from Peycke Bros, in answer to 

 letters written them by me, asking their opinion as to 

 cases, grading, shipping, different varieties of sections, 

 prices, etc., which I think will be of interest to you all, and 

 perhaps will enable you more fully to understand their 



wants and needs the coming season if you desire to sell to 

 them. 



[These letters are too lengthy for publication, but from 

 them the following is taken : " In regard to the quality of 

 honey, on the whole we find it much better than we have 

 had from there in previous years. Still, there is quite a 

 good deal of room for improvement, particularly in the 

 proper grading. As long as your people insist on putting 

 even a few sections of inferior honey in the No. 1 cases, 

 they will always be regarded with suspicion, and they will 

 never be able to make a good, outright sale. .. .Another 

 season j'our people will find that they will have to send 

 their honey into market on its merits, and it will behoove 

 them to be very particular in their grading."] 



In conclusion, I will add that I believe it pays to clean 

 carefully all honey intended for market; carefully grade 

 and pack in 24-pound section-cases, with wrapping-paper 

 over and under the honey in the cases. Don't use old news- 

 papers. The ink blackens the wood and gives the sections 

 a dirty appearance. Don't put in sections not well filled ; 

 the extractor is a good place for them. Don't put in sec- 

 tions unless well fastened to at least three sides and fully 

 capt over. Don't put in honey you would refuse to buy if 

 ofifered to you over the counter; and, finally, don't :iail 

 down the cover with spikes — '4 -inch brads are large 

 enough. 



Endeavor to get the reputation that some honey pro- 

 ducers in Utah have, of whom a certain commission firm 

 speaks as follows : 



"We do not even have to bother about inspecting with 

 them. They know just what we want and know that they 

 will get their money just as soon as their bill of lading gets 

 into our possession. We have shipt five carloads of comb 

 honey from one point this season without having to go 

 near there, and they are the prettiest goods put up any- 

 where in the United States." 



What wovtld be the worth of a reputation like that to 

 the bee-keepers of Owens Valley ? It would mean a sure 

 market every season for all the first-class goods we could 

 produce. 



There is no fault with the locality. We can produce as 

 fine honey as any place on earth. The trouble lies wholly 

 in the manipulation and the methods adopted in cleaning, 

 grading and packing for market. Eet us strive for the 

 reputation, and guard it jealously when obtained. 



Inyo Co., Calif., Jan. 25, 1899. 



York's Honey Calendar for 1900 is a 16-page pamph- 

 let especially gotten up to create a demand for honey among 

 should-be consumers. The forepart was written by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, and is devoted to general information concern- 

 ing honey. The latter part consists of recipes for use in 

 cooking and as a medicine. It will be found to be a very 

 effective helper in working up a home market for honey. 

 We furnish them, postpaid, at these prices : A sample 

 free ; 25 copies for 30 cents ; 50 for 50 cents ; 100 for 90 

 cents ; 250 for $2.00 ; 500 for $3.50. For 25 cents extra we 

 will print your name and address on the front page, when 

 ordering 100 or more copies at these prices. 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 



the name of the new bee-keeper's song — words by Hon. 



Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 



thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 



Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can 



furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 



for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 



sending us one new yearly subscription to the American 



Bee Journal at $1.00. 



■'*-•-*' 



Please send us Names of Bee»Keepers who do not now 



get the American Bee Journal, and we will send them sam- 

 ple copies. Then you can very likely afterward get their 

 subscriptions, for which work we offer valuable premiums 

 in nearly every number of this journal. You can aid much 

 by sending in the names and addresses when writing us on 



other matters. 



^ * » * 



Queenie Jeanette is the title of a pretty song in sheet 

 music size, written by J. C. Wallenmeyer, a musical bee- 

 keeper. The regular price is 40 cents, but to close out the 

 copies we have left, we will mail them at 20 cents each, as 

 long as they last. Better order at once, if you want a copy 

 of this song. 



