The Marketing of Honey 



To raise a good crop of honey cheaply, and to sell it to the best 

 advantage, are two quite different processes, requiring greatly varying 

 qualifications. Seldom do we find all of these qualifications in the high- 

 est degree in one person. I believe that the majority of bee-keepers are 

 better bee-keepers than they are business men ; or, perhaps, salesmen 

 is more properly the word to use. Many of them can't get far enough 

 away from a bee-hive to sell the honey that has been stored in it — or 

 think they can't. Every energy is bent the securing of a great crop. 

 Having secured it, many a bee-keeper is actually puzzled how to put it 

 on the market in the best shape, or how or where to sell. 



Of course, the first step in the marketing of honey is its preparation 

 for the market. About all the preparation needed for comb honey is 

 to clean the sections of propolis and pack them in shipping-cases having 

 corrugated paper in the bottoms, and glass fronts. If it is to be sent 

 to a distant market, and the shipment is less than a car load, the cases 

 should be packed in crates — not boxes, as these would hide the honey, 

 but crates with slats on the side that will allow a view of the honey. 

 A crate may be made to hold nine, twelve, or sixteen cases. A little 

 straw in the bottom helps to break the force of jars. The ends of a 

 slat on each side, near the top of the case, are allowed to project and 

 thus form handles. The position of the handles shows which side up 

 the crate should be kept. In fact, these handles are so inviting that 

 there is no disposition to put the crate in a wrong position. The handles 

 are so short that it can't be "dumped" without dumping it upon the 

 toes of the carriers. Cases of honey crated in this manner never tumble 

 over, and they reach their destination free from even the finger-marks 

 of a dirty niand. When honey is shipped by freight it is quite important 

 that the combs stand parallel with the track. If they are crosswise of 

 the track, the bumping-together of the cars breaks the combs much 

 easier than when the combs are parallel with the track. For this reason 

 it is well to have a large label pasted upon the top of the crate, with a 

 large hand pointing lengthwise of the combs, and accompanied by the 

 following in bold type : "Load with the hand pointing toward the end 

 of the car or the side of the wagon." 



