1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



11 



But I have purchased 3 more stands, and want to be- 

 gin my A B C, which please send to me for the 25c 

 inclosed. One who likes honey. H. F. Philps. 



Faribault, Minn., Dec. ITth, 1877. 



I enclose ?1,00 for Gleanings, but that is more 

 money than I ha'se made from my bees this season. 

 I have 23 hives, but my report is onlj' "Blasted 

 Hopes." Thanks to golden rod, however, they stored 

 up nicely for winter, thus saving me the expense of 

 feeding, for which I feel grateful. 



E. W. Griswold, Essex, Conn., Dec. 5th, "Tt. 



\% BAT KIND GF SKCTION BOXES SHAL,£. 

 \%EUSE. 



fJHE statement made on page 317. Vol. 5, perhaps 

 requires a little explanation from me. Novice 

 , s:ivs, "A crop like Doolittle's could easily have 



been sold for 25c." By turning to page 212, same Vol., 

 the reader will see that the best Novice could get of- 

 fered for his honey at that time, in Chicago & Cincin- 

 nati was 15c. New York offered 18. Now within a 

 week of the time that he was offered the 18c, we sold 

 our honey for 20c, here, Thurber & Co. paying the 

 transportation and taking all risks, thus showing that 

 our honey brought at least 2c, and the transportation 

 more than Novice was offered for his. On same page 

 (317) C. R. Isham says, "Thurber paid Mr. Doolittle 

 20c, per lb. for the honey to which was awarded the 

 f 50.00 Gold Medal. They paid me 2.5c, for the 90 lbs. 

 i exhibited in competition." To this we Avill say our 

 crate of honey put up to compete for the medal was 

 stolen off the cars in transportation, so was not on 

 exhibition ; but we had another crate there of 31 ^ilbs. 

 for which Thurber & Co., were offered SI. 00 per lb. 

 crate and all, before we left N.Y. We charged Thur- 

 ber & Co. no more for this crate than for any of the 

 rest, as they bought our whole crop. V,'c make this 

 explsmation that the readers of Gleanings may not 

 get the impression that a crop of 9,000 lbs. of honey 

 could be sold for as high a price as a crate or two se- 

 lected out of 9,000 lbs. would bring, when selected to 

 compete for a Gold Medal. 



G. M. Doolittle, Borodino, N.Y. 



The sample cases we sent Newman, King 

 and ]SIuth. were, as I have said before, to 

 test their shipping qualities, and not espe- 

 cially to get prices. Rather than be to the 

 expense of shi])ping them back, we told them 

 to give us credit for whatever they could af- 

 ford. At this same time, we had a standing 

 offer for 2 tons or more, at 25c. and the calls 

 we had from different parties from the city 

 of Cleveland alone, would have taken all of 

 friend Doolittle's 9.000 lbs at 2oc. Avithout 

 trouble, had it been in 1 lb. thin light pine 

 sections. 



Now there is something to say on the oth- 

 er side ; it is really more profitable, (or rath- 

 er we get more money) to sell honey at 20c. 

 in the Betsinger box (the one Doolittle uses) 

 than to sell it for 2oc in our sections. I have 

 just taken a section box at random, from a 

 lot purchased of D., and although we put in 

 thin glass, it weighs 11 ounces. I believe 

 the boxes do not average over 2 lbs. each, so 

 you see we get 1 lb. and 5 oz. of honey for 

 40c. This would be over 30c. per lb. for the 

 honey when ready for the table. Our sec- 

 tions' weigh 1 oz. At 25c., the honey on the 

 table, costs near 27c. therefore if people will 

 pay the same for a 2 lb. glassed section, it is 

 more profitable to let them have it. rriends 

 Betsinger and Doolittle claim they will, and 

 peihaps such is the case, in cities.'but in our 

 OAvn town and Cleveland, the 1 lb. sections 

 in our glass retailing case, would leave the 

 other untouched. Perhaps the 1 lb. sections 

 nave not found their way yet into the cities. 

 The following seems to look that way : 



We have had a consignmtnt of honcA' this year in 

 cases, or rather 1 lb. frames nnd crates made accord- 

 ing to your directions. This honey sold quickly, and 



we have had enquiries for more. We would show' 

 like a pattern crate filled with 1 lb. frames to bee 

 men seeking desirable packages. 



H. K. & F. B. Thurber & Co. ; 

 New York, Dec. 12th, 1877. 



After the sample case was received, the 

 following came to hand : 



We are very much obliged to you for the crate, and 

 feel sorry it was not on exhibit ion at the American 

 Institute fair. There can be hardly a doubt but it 

 would have been favorably received. The idea of 

 doing away with so much unneccessary tare in the 

 way of glass is a great advantage. Had all the honey 

 we purchased this year been crated in your style of 

 crates, it is our firm belief we would have paid for 

 50,000 lbs. less weight. Please excuse a suggestion; 

 and that is, reduce the size so as to hold 24 frames. 

 With this alteration it will no doubt be the best, i. e., 

 the most acceptable crate on the market. 



H. K. & F. B. Thurber & Co. 



New York, Dec. 19th, '77. 



"We have the 24 box cases on hand, as well 

 as the 48, and just such a one was sent to 

 the Ohio State fair by one of our friends. I 

 really do not know whether it took the pre- 

 mium or not, but we have had many letters 

 of inquiry, in regard to it. 



Some niay ask why I did not send a case 

 to compete for the gold medal. Well, the 

 real truth was that I was afraid to. I would 

 of course think that mine was best, and if I 

 didn't get the medal, I would perhaps get 

 jealous, and quarrel Avith my best friend ; if 

 I did get the medal, judging from what I re- 

 member of myself dm-ing past similar expe- 

 riences, it would do me still more harm. 

 That is rather a humiliating confession to 

 make, is it not V "Well, I rejoice that there 

 is a very safe place for me in such matters, 

 and for all who are unfortunately like me. 

 It is to give God all the credit, for all that 

 we may succeed in doing ; then we are at 

 peace with all the world, with our own selves, 

 feel pleasantly toward everybody, and it 

 matters very little whether Ave get all the 

 credit Ave deserve or not. if our efforts have 

 been the means of doing good and helping 

 mankind. 



If you are undecided in regard to the sec- 

 tion boxes, just place a fcAV of each kind in 

 the market. The people Avill very quickly 

 tell you which they prefer. 



HO'W BOOLETTI-E GOT 566 I.ES. FKOM 



AliSO SOMETHING ABOUT RAISING LOTS OF BEES. 



E are requested to give particulars in regard 

 to the way we managed the stock that gave 

 us the 566 lbs. extracted honey, the past sea- 

 son. The stock was selected on account of being 

 near the house, and was no better than »/» our stocks. 

 They were built up on the plan we have so often 

 given, of contracting the hive by means of a division 

 board and then spreading the brood from time to 

 time, as they Avould bear it. About June first, they 

 were changed from one of our standard hives to a 

 hive four feet long holdiug 32 Gallup frames, but 

 were not given the whole number of frames until a- 

 bout June 20th. V»'e supposed we v/ere going to keep 

 the queen on about 16 to 20 combs, but found we 

 could not do It without a division board of some kind, 

 so at t he height of the season, about July 15th, we had 

 brood in everj' one of the 32 frames, or to the amount 

 of liOO square inches, which the reader will see wculd 

 give 70,000 bees in 21 days. This was the best, by far. 



