Apiarian Exhibits at Fairs. 



^>i~f=s^ HERE has been, in times past, 

 some opposition to the exhibi- 

 tion of bees, honey, wax, im- 

 plements, etc., at our State and 

 County fairs, exhibitions etc., on the 

 ground that such exhibitions were usually 

 made by supply dealers who, in their 

 eagerness to do business, did not hesitate 

 to urge a man to become a bee-keeper, in 

 order to effect a sale. If the fruit of the 

 seed sown at these gatherings were a crop 

 of producers, I might admit that, possi- 

 bly, there would be some injury to ex- 

 isting bee-keepers, but, after an • exper- 

 ience of many years in making such ex- 

 hibitions, I am thoroughly convinced that 

 nothing of the kind occurs; in fact, the 

 exhibitions of hives, implements, and 

 large quantities of honey tastily put up, 

 impresses the crowd with the true impor- 

 tance, magnitude and complexity of 

 modern bee culture; imparting the idea 

 that the bee-business is quite a business — 

 one that cannot be picked up and learn- 

 ed in a day by Tom, Dick and Harry. 



Anything that increases the consump- 

 tion of honey is a benefit to the pursuit, 

 and, as usually managed, these bee and 

 honey shows call the attention of crowds 

 of people to the excellence and delicious- 

 ness of honey as a food, and the producer 

 and consumer are brought face to face. 

 At a fair, people are abroad with a dispo- 

 sition for sight-seeing, investigation and 

 the purchase of novelties and nick-nacks; 

 iMid a fine display of honey, together with 

 its sale in fancy packages, cannot help 



benefiting the exhibitor as well as the 

 pursuit. Honey ought to be put up in 

 small packages. It may be difficult to 

 put it up in packages so small that one 

 can be sold for five cents, but I believe it 

 has been done, while there is no difficulty 

 in putting up honey in packages that may 

 be sold for ten or twenty-five cents each. 

 People at fairs don't want to be burdened 

 with heavy or bulky packages, and the 

 honey must be put up in such shape that 

 it can be eaten upon the grounds, or else 

 carried in the pocket or hand bag with- 

 out danger of leakage. I remember that, 

 one year, at the Michigan State Fair, Mr. 

 H. D. Cutting sold nearly $40 worth of 

 honey put up in pound and half-pound, 

 square, glass bottles and in small glass 

 pails, tast fall, at the Detroit Exposi- 

 tion, at least 1,500 pounds of "Honey 

 Jumbles" were sold by three exhibitors 

 in the bee and honey department. These 

 "jumbles" or cakes, are made with honey 

 instead of sugar, and the honey used is of 

 a low grade. Their sale is rapidly in- 

 creasing, and is, of course, a benefit to 

 honey producers. Such management 

 certainly does the pursuit of bee-keeping 

 no harm, while it is a benefit, to the one 

 making the exhibit. 



Neither ought the social feature to be 

 overlooked. Every bee-keeper attending 

 the fair hunts up the "Bee and Hohey 

 Department, "and only one who has been 

 at an exhibition knows of the many new 

 acquaintances thus formed and the old 

 ones that are renewed. It is well to have 



