October 15, 1885. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
349 
MAEKETING HONEY. 
The honey harvest being now over, and the season on 
the whole having been a good one, many bee-keep 3rs have 
a large stock of honey on their hands, and the question 
naturally arises, How they are to sell it ? 
If they wish to realise at once the only plan is to sell to 
any of the wholesale dealers, taking care, however, to get 
their money, as if we were eager to appear in a court of law 
as a defendant in a libel suit we could refer to cases within 
own experience where honey has been sold, but the unim¬ 
portant (!) part of paying has not followed. By all means 
let sellers beware to whom they sell their honey. Long 
prices look very well on paper, but for our part we prefer 
shorter prices—and cash. 
Those bee-keepers, however, who wish the larger profits 
of selling without the middleman must teke care to see that 
their honey is put up in an attractive form to to tempt the 
public to buy. Honey may be divided for commercial pur¬ 
poses into two classes—honey in the comb, and honey out of 
the comb ; that is to say, run or extracted honey. Of late 
years section honey has taken the place of the supers of 
glass, wood, or straw which were formerly so common, and 
the reason is not far to seek. 
The sections, holding nearly one or two pounds, which 
are generally used, are neat and portable, and if packed in 
the glass card-cases are very attractive, and will save the 
bee-keeper the trouble of glazing each section, as unless the 
honey is protected in some way it will be spoiled by flies, 
wasps, &c. These cases for 1 lb. sections can be purchased 
from the hive-dealers for about 15s. the gross. 
They consist of really two boxes without covers, the 
unglazed one being slightly smaller than the other. The 
section is put into the glazed box, and the other box fits over 
this, and is made all secure by the little projecting flaps of 
gummed paper. This doubtless is a considerable addition 
to the cost of a section, but as they can be used over and 
over again, any cases returned in good condition could be 
allowed for. We have frequently seen exhibits disqualified 
because they were not properly protected from robbing bees, 
and when judging at a show a short time ago we had to order 
the removal of a very meritorious exhibit of section honey, 
and which would have won the second if not the first prize. 
The best way of cleaning sections from propolis, &c., is to 
use a sharp knife and scrape the section, as, if we use spirits 
of wine, ether, &c., there is generally a stain left on the wood. 
Eun or extracted honey is best put up in glass jars or bottles, 
and must be carefully corked to prevent the honey leaking. 
Here again, the cost of the bottle bears rather too large a pro¬ 
portion to the value of the honey. What is wanted is an 
article which could be retailed for about 6d., very much in the 
same way as we see jam and marmalade sold in tumblers, 
&o., which, when empty, can be used for other purposes ; but 
at present we have seen no such inexpensive method with 
regard to honey. 
As regards the price of honey, it is difficult to determine. 
We have seen run honey (not extracted) sold for 2s. per lb., 
and we have heard of 1 lb. sections being sold for 6d. each, 
and in the last number of the Bee Journal extracted honey of 
good colour is offered for 6£d. per lb. 
Whether the price of honey will rise during the winter 
will depend on the demand, and bee-keepers must judge for 
themselves whether they will hold back or sell at these low 
prices. If they decide to keep their honey on the chance of 
getting more later on, they must be careful to keep the honey 
in a warm dry room, and never covered over until it is fully 
ripened. A good way to prevent fermentation is to cover the 
vessels containing honey with unsized paper, which has been 
dipped in a solution containing one part of salicylic acid to 
ten parts of spirits of wine. If, however, any fermentation - 
takes place, the honey must be heated and then carefully 
skimmed; but this is only of use when fermentation has only 
just begun, as, after a short time, fermented honey is of no 
use except for making vinegar.—T he Surreyshire Bee¬ 
keeper. 
THE LAST CHANCE. 
September has passed away, and has not failed to give 
warning that frost of some severity may shortly be experienced. 
Unless to repair the neglect of the earlier part of last month no 
manipulation should now be undertaken, but the bees should by 
perfect quietness and freedom from interference be allowed to 
settle comfortably down ready to meet the unkind weather they 
are likely, at no very distant date, to experience. All unions 
should now be effected, but most thoughtful bee-masters will 
already have performed this most salutary operation. Unity is 
strength : a strong hive now will be strong in spring, and will 
amply repay any extra expense incurred in the purchase of some 
pounds of bees if there are no honey stocks to afford the neces¬ 
sary contingent. The stronger a stock is in autumn the greater 
the yield in spring; the better the foundation the firmer the 
structure. The seed bed must be in good condition to insure a 
healthy growth. So must the stock from which the swarms of a 
future year are expected; or, if the swarms are prevented increas¬ 
ing, must be full of bees with a plenteous store, in a warm hive 
sheltered from the cold north wind, protected from the rain and 
damp, freed from vermin, and tended at times, when care is 
required, by the owner, who is acquainted with the different 
wants and requirements of his busy insect labourers. 
There is, it must be admitted, one fear in connection with 
buying bees, and that is the importation of foul brood. But 
with discrimination and due care to buy only from men whose 
honest dealing and acquaintance with the appearance of a foul 
broody stock is assured, this danger may be reduced to a mini¬ 
mum. Food, too, must be administered if a full supply has not 
already been given, and it is here that the greatest care is 
requisite to prevent “ robbing.” A little syrup spilt will cause 
a great disturbance, and if measures be not taken at once to stop 
the thieves, much mischief may be done, although here again 
by keeping all stocks strong in numbers, an excellent preventive 
will be afforded and less loss entailed. 
This reminds me that early in August I had a bad case of 
robbing, but taking stringent measures, and losing no time in 
their application, peace was soon restored, and no further out¬ 
break has occurred- I was feeding a driven stock of great 
strength with the ordinary round tin feeder, and although 
covering the feeder well up, the bees, while not venturing inside 
the hive, managed, as I afterwards discovered, to get a little 
syrup from the feeder direct, owing to a Daw so small as scarcely 
to be perceivable. It was on Sunday morning the “ row ” was 
at its height, and on the next morning peace was almost wholly 
restored. The measure I took was harsh. On the top of the 
hive, enveloping both it and the feeder, I laid a carbolic sheet. 
This I should hardly have dared to do had I not been at home 
to see the result, as driven bees not having any particular at¬ 
tachment to a hive containing no brood, and strongly scented 
with crude carbolic, might possibly I thought leave the hive. 
They were, in fact, driven from the feeder; but the robbers, 
they hovered round and round, and endeavoured to resume their 
work, but in vain, and gradually their efforts became more 
feeble. At night the sheet was taken away, a filled feeder placed 
in the stead of the one the cause of the disturbance; the bees 
taking possession at once, went peacefully on with the work 
from which they were compelled to desist by the strongly scented 
carbolic. So far as I am aware, no robbers have since attempted 
to assail the stock, which, to their great disgust, they found, 
when expecting a stolen feast, possessed of a vigilant, if inani¬ 
mate, assailant of incalculable value to the bee-master. My 
bar-frame hive3 are packed for winter in a manner advocated by 
many as an effectual means of preventing dampness, and to my 
mind rightly so. Ticking, quilts, and then a section crate filled 
with cork dust on the top, as warm as possible, clean, admitting 
of easy ventilation, carrying away the damp, there seems to 
be no more admirable winter covering. 
To a careful apiarian the winter season brings no fear, 
because he knows his bees are well provided with all the neces¬ 
saries they require to withstand the season. But how different 
is the case; and I once, and only once, experienced it, of the 
man who has stocks not strong in numbers nor well supplied 
with food, and if to this be added an insufficient covering, a very 
climax of misery must be reached. Each day he fears to find 
his stock dead; and when, in the latter end of January, mild 
weather enables him to partly repair his previous neglect by 
