174 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



How Can Proilncers Reacli the Trade? 



DEMA BENinETT. 



The title presupposes that you will 

 have the honey to dispose of, and as it 

 takes pretty good management to secure 

 honey in these latter days, in the way of 

 having your bees strong at just the right 

 time, and having your dishes right side 

 up, etc., I conclude that nothing need 

 be said on the point of producing the 

 honey, except as it may refer to the 

 subject under discussion, through the 

 quality or appearance, which must 

 necessarily begin to be effected while 

 still in the hive. 



For comb-honey, I believe that the 

 section-holder, which is a topless wide 

 frame holding one row of sections, is the 

 best thing for the pift-pose that I have 

 ever seen. I will quote from " Ernest's 

 Notes of Travel," in Oleanings, page 

 57: "It protects three sides of the 



section from the travel of the bees 



We pulled over several piles of T supers. 

 In all, I noticed the bees had chinked in 

 considerable propolis between the edges 

 of the sections." I am glad to know 

 that I shall have at least one on my side 

 of this feature of the subject. 



By using these section-holders, you 

 can wedge them up or use a "dummy " 

 so as to keep the sections nice and 

 bright ; consequently, you do not have 

 as much scraping of propolis, which is 

 sometimes accompanied by the slipping 

 of the knife into the honey, and " thumb 

 marks" on the sections, which prevent 

 it being rated as a first-class article. 



For extracted-honey, I would advise 

 using combs of worked-out wired foun- 

 dation ; this makes them strong, so there 

 is no danger of breaking them out of the 

 frame. Some think that old combs do 

 not make any difference in the color of 

 honey. I used to think so, too, but I do 

 not any more, and you know that when 

 one changes their opinion, they do not 

 ever get quite back to the original 

 position again. 



Put water into old combs, allow it to 

 remain awhile, and then shake it out. 

 Remember how thin honey is when it is 

 brought in fresh from the flowers, and 

 if it did not soak some color out of the 

 combs, as water does, it would be a 

 miracle. Honey should be left in the 

 hive until pretty well sealed before 

 extracting, then when drawn from the 

 extractor it should be put into a deep 

 storage can (the ripened honey, being 

 heavier, will settle to the bottom of the 

 can, and leave the thin honey on top to 



ripen), and allowed to stand, with only . 

 a cloth tied over it, to keep out the dust 

 and let in the air, until thoroughly 

 cured. 



HOW TO REACH THE TRADE. 



First. You must make people want to 

 buy honey. 



In what way ? By educating them up 

 to understanding something of the 

 nature of honey, its value as an article 

 of diet, and the comparative cheapness 

 between it and sauces for the table, 

 which must be prepared at a cost of 

 much time and trouble, sweetened, and 

 then cooked ; while honey goes farther, 

 and is always ready. 



Second. You must make the dealer 

 prefer to buy of you rather than from 

 any one else. 



How can this be done ? By convinc- 

 ing him that you have a fine article for 

 sale, and that you are a reliable persr>n 

 from whom to purchase. To secure the 

 former, great care must be taken in 

 selecting and preparing the goods for 

 market. 



Of course, you all know that I am not 

 a honey-producer, but I have had several 

 years' experience at "Welcome Apiary," 

 and will tell you how we prepare honey 

 for market. Comb-honey is sorted into 

 three lots — the nicest ones are picked 

 out as being "gilt edged," or No. 1. We 

 scrape the propolis off, label the top of 

 the section, encase each one in a carton 

 (which is a folded pasteboard box), and 

 place in single-tier shipping cases, being 

 very sure not to have any leaky ones, 

 for they would discolor the paper, which 

 would look badly. On one side of the 

 carton is a cut of the home apiary, and 

 below it is printed a quotation from the 

 Honey Leaflet, published by Thomas G. 

 Newman & Son, Chicago, Ills. : 



" Why eat honey ? Because it is good 

 food and good medicine. No article for 

 hnman consumption is more delicious 

 than honey, and none is more beneficial 

 to the human system. Honey is food in 



one of its most concentrated forms 



It gives warmth to the system, arouses 

 nervous energy, and gives vigor to all 

 the vital functions. It is Nature's offer- 

 ing to man — ready for use, distilled, 

 drop by drop, in myriads of flowers, by a 

 more delicate and perfect process than 

 any human laboratory ever produced." 



On the reverse side is a square form, 

 with cut of straw hive and the words, 

 "White Clover Comb-Honey; produced 

 by — " (giving name and residence). 



The next best sections of honey in 

 appearance — either the section being 

 soiled, or, perhaps, the cells are not all 



