1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



563 



commission — never will — and have never 

 had any dispute in settling up, the nearest 

 being a deduction of two pounds shortage in 

 a shipment of three dozen cases, for which 

 the receiver apologized. 



I think every one else can, if he will, dis- 

 pose of his honey in the same way I do. 

 One trouble is, so many do not pack their 

 honey well. Generally it is a case of don't 

 know how either in producing or packing, or 

 both. A man who tiers up comb honey from 

 spring till fall will never be satisfied with 

 the price he receives; neither will the pur- 

 chaser be satisfied with the price he pays. 



A few years ago a party sold his honey 

 crop to the same party to whom I sell, stat- 

 ing it to be just as good as mine. It took 

 several weeks to adjust the price on that lot 

 of honey. 



I recently inspected a case of honey on the 

 counter of a grocery. Out of 24 sections 

 there was just one that I would class as Al. 

 The others were well enough filled, but they 

 contained evei'y thing between apple bloom 

 and aster, and "foot-prints" considerably 

 thicker than the cappings, and all had a gen- 

 eral "dirty" appearance. Now, had every 

 section been removed as soon as sealed, and 



Eroperly cared for, its appearance would 

 ave been its own recommendation. ' ' Calico 

 honey," when clean, is not repulsive; but 

 when thickly soiled it tempts neither eye nor 

 appetite. Where at all possible the extractor 

 should be used before a new How of different- 

 appearing honey so as to keep the contents 

 of every package uniform in color, weight, 

 and quality. 



An apiarian that can not make 90 per cent 

 of his section honey grade Al to fancy has 

 never learned his trade. 



Honey should be taken from the hive just 

 as soon as sealed, every section held to the 

 light to be sure it contains no pollen to feed 

 worms, and then stored in a tight cupboard 

 in a very warm dry room (the kitchen is just 

 right if the ladies will agree to the arrange- 

 ment), and kept tightly closed, so that, when 

 the door is opened, a gush of delicious aroma 

 greets the nostrils and declares the delicacy 

 of the contents. It usually takes from four 

 to six weeks to cure half a ton of honey so 

 stored; but when it is cured it is of just as 

 fine quality as that delicious morsel occasion- 

 ally found when transferring, that the bees 

 have cured and kept perfectly for probably 

 a dozen years — the most toothsome morsel 

 mortal man ever placed in contact with his 

 palate — a rival to the "ambrosia fit only for 

 the ancient gods." Honey so cared for and 

 treated will sell, where known, for cash at 

 full or considerably above quotations on the 

 open market. 



It is never any trouble to sell a good arti- 

 cle if all parties know it to be good. In or- 

 der to sell a crop of 25, 50, 100, or 1000 cases 

 of honey, carefully pack three or four cases 

 as samples, neither better nor worse than 

 best grade; and, while the quality of the 

 whole case is the same, be very sure 

 that the four sections next to the glass 

 are as nearly alike as four peas in color and 



finish. If packed in cartons, leave one sec- 

 tion next to the glass open so as to show the 

 exact quality of the contents; also one open 

 section inside of the package for inspection, 

 placing both empty cartons under the lid. 

 Now snip a sample case to two or three re- 

 liable dealers in fine groceries, not commis- 

 sion men; guarantee every package as good 

 as sample, and ask their best offer on the 

 same F. O. B. ; and if your honey is what it 

 should be you will get an answer that will 

 surprise you, and that very agreeably. 



In making large shipments of comb honey, 

 crate six to nine cases together and load on 

 cars so that the face of the sections is parallel 

 with the side of the car, and you will have 

 no more breakage than from a carload of 

 pig iron. Be very cai'eful to stencil exact 

 quality, weight, and grade, on every case, 

 and never try to palm off a poor quality for 

 a good one. It will not work with honey, at 

 any rate. Here honesty is the only policy. 



Frenchtown, N. J. 



[Our correspondent draws attention to the 

 fact that there is an omission in our original 

 ^ statement. We should have stated that we 

 believe the great majority, if not all the com- 

 mission men ivho furnish qtiotations for this 

 journal are honest. The italicized words 

 were the ones omitted. This would reduce 

 the number down to a select few. No, we 

 did not mean to convey the impression that 

 the majority of all commission men, whether 

 they quote for any bee-paper or not, are re- 

 liable. We should be inclined to the opinion 

 that the majority of them are men who should 

 be avoided. 



The suggestions made by Mr. Case on how 

 to pack honey for shipment, and, in general, 

 how to prepare it for market, are excellent. 

 One who knows how to take care of these 

 two important requisites will, as a rule, have 

 very little trouble with the honey-buyers who 

 quote in these columns. We italicize the last 

 three words so as not to be misunderstood. 



We also wish to indorse another sugges- 

 tion — to sell honey outi'ight on sample rather 

 than to depend on commission sales. If the 

 buyer knows your honey, knows that it will 

 be equal to the sample, he will be pretty sure 

 to want those goods, even if he has to pay a 

 little above the market price to get them. 



It is a fact to be deplored, that the great ma- 

 jority of those who ship honey to the cities 

 either do not know how to grade and hoiv to 

 pack it, or else are woefully careless. We 

 have purposely put this in italics, and yet we 

 are aware of the fact that there may be some 

 who will question the accuracy of the state- 

 ment. But the big buyers in the country, as 

 well as commission men generally, we are 

 confident, will vouch for it. Some think they 

 know how to prepare honey for the market, 

 but they do not, just the same, and are com- 

 pelled to take a cent or two less than the 

 same goods would actually bring if they were 

 properly graded and packed. Penny wise is 

 sometimes pound foolish. 



We have harped on this statement many a 

 time, but it seems to be necessary to keep 



