44 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



I do not know but I have told it before, 

 but it is worth repeating. I heard a man 

 who had had experience in selHng apples 

 in a large city market, say that, in pack- 

 ing, if the grower puts a small apple in 

 a barrel of large ones it is a cull; but if all 

 the small apples are put in a barrel by 

 themselves they may all be No. I's. So 

 with our honey. 1 believe that where 

 weights vary much, they should be in 

 separate cases; so the buyer can get what 

 he wants. Some will want heavy combs, 

 and will be willing to pay a good price 

 for them, while other dealers will have 

 a class of customers that can pay only a 

 low price, and will prefer the lighter 

 combs for a little lower price. 



Without doubt, selling honey by count 

 would tend to the production of combs of 

 more even weight than those at present 

 produced. Some one may say that the 

 light combs will sell for as much as the 

 heavy ones, and selling by count will tend 

 to reduce both the weight and the price. 

 Perhaps; but I don't believe it. 



I very little doubt that the lower price 

 paid for light combs, when bought by the 

 pound, has made a large demand for them. 



It has been urged that consumers will 

 buy a light comb as quickly as a heavier 

 one, at the same price. I don't believe 

 it. While in Washington, in December 

 last, I saw two persons selling light- 

 weight honey by the section. I bought 

 one myself, for 15 cents, weight 14 ounces. 

 Both comb and honey were white. In 

 the same market I saw Mr. Danzenbaker 

 deliver a case of mixed dark and white 

 honey which he had sold at 15 cents per 

 comb, by the case, without weighing it; 

 but the combs were well finished and 

 would weigh almost an exact pound each. 

 This would be retailed at from 17 to 20 

 cents per comb. 



I believe too much attention has been 

 given to color at the expense of weights 

 in the grading of honey; or, to put it in 

 another way, too little attention has been 

 given to having even weights in each 

 case, 



But how shall dealers know whether 

 weights are light or heavy; sections full 

 or half full ? An easy matter I think. 

 A pound section is the standard size from 

 the Atlantic to to the Pacific; from Mana- 

 toba to the Gulf; however it may varv in 

 form. How easy then, if weights are 

 very light, to mark with an X; if of me- 

 dium weight, say 14 ounces, mark with 

 X X; and, if full, or heavy, mark with 

 XXX. Then both the wholesale and 

 retail merchant would know at a glance 

 just what to expect; and honey would sell 

 on its merits, as well as now, and quite 

 likely to the advantage of most bee-keep- 

 ers. 



MiDDLEBURV, Vt. Jan. 24, 1899. 



HAS OUR CRITIC BEEX FAIR? 



And Will you Please tell us the Average 



Length of the Breeding Season with 



Bees ? 



DR. C. C. MILLER. 



iX reply to a ques- 

 t i n in the 

 American Bee 

 Journal I said a 

 good Italian queen 

 might lay some- 

 where from 7 to 9 

 months in a year. 

 Hon. R. L. Taylor 

 asks. Review, 19, 

 whether it is pos- 

 sible that at Ma- 

 rengo queens sometimes get in nine months 

 of labor in the year. He .says his queens 

 "can be relied on to lay only from April 

 10 to September 10 — five months; although 

 they frequently laj' a little sooner and a 

 little later, five and one half months 

 would be a full average. " (I can't help 

 wondering what Bro. Taylor would hav'e 



