1558 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 15 



tions grooved, and insert the full sheet of 

 foundation while the section is being formed 

 in the section-press. Then the foundation 

 may be further secured with melted beeswax 

 applied with a tube. This may seem quite 

 a lot of trouble to go to: but it saves even 

 more trouble before the season is over. One 

 point is, that it enables the bee-keeper to or- 

 der his sections early, and employ his spare 

 time in getting i"eady for the summer cam- 

 paign, w K. M. 



THAT GREAT IRKIGATION CONGRESS AT SAC- 

 RAMENTO, CAL. 



We have received a copy of the Sacramen- 

 to Bee containing an account of the irrigation 

 congress at Sacramento. 'J'his edition, of 

 forfy large newspaper pages, devoted to the 

 themes of irrigation, forestry, and public 

 lands, is well illustrated, and contains an 

 immense amount of valuable information 

 having to do with the work of reclaiming the 

 arid >^est, and converting it into a land of 

 fruits, flowers, bees, and peaceful contented 

 homes for toiling millions. 



Twenty thousand delegates assembled on 

 the opening day to discuss ways and means 

 of facilitating this great work of land redemp- 

 tion and home creation Jn some respects 

 this work is unique. Delegates came from 

 Europe, Asia, Australia, South and Central 

 America to hear and see what America was 

 doing in this work, and to take part in the 

 deliberations. 



The convention was in itself a triumph 

 for peace, science, and industrial skill. 

 Nothing was said about war nor about the 

 predatory rich, but every thing hinged on 

 the home — the I'ural home. 



Practically every irrigation project is a 

 bee-keeper's preserve so that the bee-keep- 

 ers are vitally interested in all that is b)ing 

 done, either by public or private enterprise 



In this connection the issue of the Sacra- 

 mento Bee now before us contains a mass of 

 very valuable information to the home-seek- 

 er. It gives the location of all government 

 projects, particulars of the Carey Act, and 

 various other measures by which arid lands 

 are reclaimed and made useful to mankind. 



Those of our readers who are interested in 

 this great movement would do well to secure 

 a copy of this irrigation number of the Sac- 

 ramento i?ee for Sept 3. No price is attached, 

 but probably 10 cents would bring it. 



w. K. M. 



HOW TO MOVE OFF NO. 3 OR UNSALABLE 

 COMB HONEY HAVING A GOOD FLAVOR. 



As a general thing it is far easier to sell 

 fancy and No. 1 honey at high prices than 

 No. 2 broken and otherwise inferior-looking 

 (;omb honey at a low price. It will very often 

 happen that one side of a box of such honey 

 will be fairly presentable while the other is 

 damaged and leaking. A No. 2 section in a 

 section- box somehow looks "off." 



At our retail store here in Medina we put 

 all such honey in wooden butter-dishes, first 

 cutting ib out of the sections. The best 

 side of the comb is put uppermost, not to 



deceive, but. rather, to make the honey show 

 to its full advantage. Very often a bad-look- 

 ing box will contain very tine-eating honey. 

 If we can so show off this honey that its real 

 quality comes to the front, we are not de- 

 ceiving or misrepresenting by putting the 

 good side out; we are only telling the truth 

 about it, that it is as good to eat as the best. 



But there is something more about these 

 butter-dishes of honey — the leakage around 

 the under side, close to the side of tlie comb, 

 i.f one important element in effecting a sale, 

 for the comb appears to be floating in its 

 crystalline sweetness. It is, therefore, sug- 

 gestive of the good old days on the farm of 

 precious memory, when chunks of comb 

 were floating in honey. How the very sight 

 of such honey made the mouth water! No 

 small wonder that it doe-? it again. 



Our retailer "over across the road" says 

 that often No. 3 honey will sell readily if the 

 combs are cut out of the sections and put in 

 butter-dishes; while if left in their original 

 containers they will have a slow sale. And 

 here is another point— No. 2 comb i^oney is 

 very often No. 2 because the sections are 

 badly travel -stained, or daubed with propo- 

 lis. Kemove the cause of its disqualification 

 and it becomes No. 1. 



We suggest that you ask your grocer to 

 try the experiment of setting out about a 

 dozen butter-dishes, each containing a sec- 

 tion of your left-over No. 2 honey with the 

 liquid article surrounding it. Watch the re- 

 sult, and report to us how they sell. 



Of course a large wholesaler could not fuss 

 with any thing of this kind; but the retailer 

 may be able, by means of butter-dishes, to 

 clean up a lot of old slow-selling stuff. If 

 you have customers come to the house or 

 bee-yard, set before them butter-dishes of 

 your "off" looking but good-eating honey. 

 With only a cent's difference in price between 

 this and your No 1 you will be able to move 

 off all of your otherwise bad-looking but 

 good eating honey. 



PARCELS POST. 



The various accounts of the assembling of 

 Congress agree in stating that there is little 

 hope for action on the matter of parcels post 

 at the present session. The representatives 

 of the people seem afraid to act because half 

 of them will go before the people for reelec- 

 tion next year, and powerful opposition has 

 been engendered by the country merchants. 



For years the express companies have fore- 

 seen that, sooner or later, an attempt would 

 be made to inaugurate a parcels post, and 

 they spent money freely in creating an an- 

 tagonism to the idea. Curiously enough, 

 they have succeeded in influencing the very 

 class who have been most hurt by the ex- 

 press companies — the country storekeepers. 

 The express people have done all they could 

 to foster mail-order houses, and yet the local 

 merchant rushes to their ass stance. This 

 agitation resembles the opposition to rail- 

 ways in early days, also to the bicycle, the 

 steamer, the automobile, and other great 

 benefits. Write your Congressman, w. k. m. 



