BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
Bulk comb honey is sold for the average price of 11 to 12 cents per pound after it is packed for the market. It must be considered that one-third of the honey, in the package, is extracted honey that is poured over the comb honey after the cans have been packed full of this, to fill up the open spaces and make up the required weight. A sixty-pound can of comb honey at 11 cents per pound will be $6.60. Since 20 pounds of the contents are extracted honey at 8 cents per pound, this must be deducted from the $6.60, leaving $5 for the 40 pounds of comb honey in the can, and we find that the beekeeper receives 12 1-2 cents per pound for the comb honey. The average returns per colony, for bulk comb honey under the same condition, is practically the same as for the other two kinds, but the great demand for this kind, and its ease of production, makes it more profitable and, consequently, it is very extensively produced. Due to this demand, bulk comb honey has always been sold long before the winter months, and the fear of deterioration by granulation has been avoided.
While the total price received in each case is the same, the production in one is easier and cheaper, and hence the profits greater. While the figures used above to compute yields per colony may not be exactly correct for all localities, they are very nearly an average for the main honey producing sections of Texas, and, whether they are lower or higher, the comparison would remain practically the same. The prices quoted are those ranging on the average market here at the present time.
Texas standard packages.
Texas has its own standard size packages for honey, for both bulk comb and extracted. These are all figured on a basis of 120 pounds, or 60 pounds, per case. For extracted honey, the regular 60-pound square can, two to a case, prevails, but friction top pails and cans, formerly adopted for bulk comb honey, are also extensively used. For bulk comb honey the same size of square cans, two to a case, have large eight-ineh screw caps to admit placing the comb honey in them. Twelve-pound friction top pails, ten in a case,making 120 pounds; six-pound friction top pails, ten in a case, making 60 pounds, and three-pound friction top eans, 20 in a case, also making 60 pounds, are used for both comb and extracted honey in smaller sized packages for retailing in the original package.
This standard is so well known that orders are always made in accordance with the price lists, in all of which the various sizes appear in the same regular order.
Barrels are not advised for honey, as they are very cumbersome in handling, besides there is danger of losing the honey by leakage due to bursting of the hoops or the drying out of the staves in our southern climate. They are good enough for the inferior grades of honey, and are used extensively for shipping them to large biseuit and cracker factories; but, while this is the case in the eastern part of Texas and in adjoining States, honey eans are almost entirely used in the West; and, for good grades of honey, such are an advertisement for the producer, and their general use is therefore recommended.
The question regarding the advisability of using second hand cans, those that have been used once before for shipping honey, is one that confronts many beekeepers, on account of the cheap price at which they are advertised. Good honey should never be risked in anything but bright new cans, and, even for poorer grades of honey the results of the risk may prove them dear at any price.
BULK COMB honey.
Since the expense of section honey production is so much greater, the Texas beekeepers long ago resorted to other ways of producing comb honey, and today there is very little section honey produced in this State. Bulk comb honey is the leading product of Texas apiaries, and, produced in shallow frames, with full sheets of foundation, the bees do not hesitate to enter the supers, therefore making it possible to obtain larger averages per colony. Although the bees are required to build their own comb, it is not necessary to crowd them, and, consequently there is less swarming. In this case they work much more readily in the supers and the colonies are more easily managed. On the whole, bulk comb honey production is easier, less laborious and less expensive than section honey, and not much more difficult to produce than extracted honey, while the profits are much greater.
The average yield per colony of bulk comb honey, comb and extracted honey together, is about 100 pounds, and, as extracted honey is required to put up with the comb honey, both are generally produced on the same hive. The extracted honey supers are placed on early in the season to catch the early honey before the season is well enough advanced for the best work in the comb honey supers, and they are also made use of again at the end of the flow to catch the honey which otherwise would result in a great deal of unfinished comb honey. Thus the comb honey is produced rapidly during the most favorable part of the season, or the honey flow, and during a time when the bees are secreting wax more rapidly, which lessens the delay in comb building and consumption of honey otherwise necessary. Using the extracted supers in the early spring furnishes the bees extra room and keeps them contented longer, so that when still more room is provided by giving the shallow supers with frames, containing full sheets of foundation when the flow begins, there is no desire to swarm.
Instead of using the regular deep hives or those of the Lang-stroth dimensions, for supers, as well as for the brood chamber below, shallow supers 5% inches deep, are used more extensively now, for they are more suitable in size for the manipulations outlined. It is possible to use a much lighter weight of foundation in shallow frames. which is quite a saving and makes the presence of such less noticeable in the finished product than is the case where heavier foundation is used.
For extracted honey shallow frames are also well adapted, because their comb surfaces are more easily uneapped before extracting, as the knife reaches completely across their width, and one stroke uncaps the entire surface. Room can be given to the colonies more gradually, as needed, with the shallow supers. This is a great advantage over using the deeper and larger hives over the colonies that are not able to take care of so much room at one time. The writer is using these shallow supers, and their superiority enables him to accomplish manipulationsthroughout the season that result in larger profits from his apiaries than could otherwise be obtained.
Taking off Honey.
The farmer-beekeeper, or the amateur, with only a few colonies of bees, will have no difficulty in taking some nice combs of honey whenever any of them are full. However, there are certain precautions that should be followed. During the main part of the season the supers of honey may be left on the hives, and only so much removed as needed for the table, or as otherwise required. The length of time it remains in the care of the bees improves it in both quality and flavor. In other words, it becomes riper and thicker, or "cures," on the hives.
When examining newly built combs of honey, which are very fragile, and therefore break easily in handling, especially during warm weather, the practice of handling the frames, as illustrated,
should be adopted. In fact all combs, brood combs as well as those with honey, should be handled in this way. The trick of handling all combs thus will soon become automatic with the operator and prevent many disagreeable mishaps to the combs. A comb removed from the hive is examined on the side nearest the operator, and is then raised up with the left hand and twirled around to bring the other side forward. The right hand is next raised up and the comb examined on that side. The comb is always kept in a vertical plane, or on its edges, and never flat. To replace it in the hive, the exact reverse motions are applied, which brings the comb into its original hanging position.
Care must be taken not to leave comb honey on the hive too long after the main season, as the bees soon soil the beautiful white eappings, by continually traveling over them and by adding discolored wax and propolis. The supers should be removed in due season and stacked up in a dry room to prevent this. The combs should be examined occasionally, as the minor wax moth larvae depredate, and
used, and their use is advocated. It is an easy matter to drive the bees down and out of these shallow supers with the smoker in very little time and, when nearly all are out, the supers are removed rapidly and the rest of the bees shaken therefrom. This is by far the most rapid way of removing the surplus honey from the hives, since the entire supers are removed, instead of single combs, and no brushing is necessary. It is more rapid than with the use of bee escape boards, since the supers are removed in but little more time than it takes to place the escape boards in place.
When the hives are arranged properly in the apiary, or, if in groups of five under each tree, the full supers can be removed in a wholesale way from five hives at a time. The bees of each hive are smoked quickly in succession, as the covers are removed, and set against the tree. Returning to the first hive, another rapid smoking is given; and so on with all five hives. Beginning again with the first hive, the uppermost supers are rapidly taken off, and, after vigorously shaking the remaining bees out, are set on the wheelarrow or honey cart. If another round of supers is ready to be removed, another smoking will be necessary, but as the bees are already on their way down from the previous smokings, they are freed from the second or third round of supers much more rapidly than the first.
By following such ''short cut wholesale methods.'' it is an easy matter to remove a thousand or more pounds of surplus honey from the hives within less than an hour's time, thus permitting the rest of the day to be devoted to getting the honey ready for market in the honey house.
How it is packed.
As the supers of honey are brought into the honey house, they are stacked up as high as convenient. From these piles of white waxen honey combs, filled with the most delicious sweet, the cans in which it is shipped to market are filled.
The cases, each holding two 60-pound square cans, the same as for extracted honey, except that they have large openings with eight-inch screw caps, have been in most general use. However, the other regular and popular sizes of packages, 12, 6, and 3 pound friction-top round pails--the two sizes in cases of ten pails each, and the latter twenty to a case--have come to the front very rapidly. Handling honey in the original packages is coming more in vogue, and, as that is the proper way, it should be encouraged by beekeepers.
In packing honey, the frames with the combs are placed on a six-inch board laid across a large shallow tray, or on one of the tubs used in extracting work. This catches all the drip and bits of comb and other waste. The knife is run around the inside of the frame to cut the comb loose, and the frame is then put back into an empty super, later to be scraped clean with all the others, for future use.
For the large square cans, the combs are cut across the middle, and the two halves laid flat, side by side, make a layer in the can. The next layer is placed cross-wise of the first, and so on until the can is nearly full. One ten-frame super, with its ten combs, will fill a can. The combs are cut across into four equal pieces for the 12-pound pails, or five pieces for the 6-pound and placed in layers in these until nearly full. For the small 3-pound cans, the comb is first cut lengthwise from end to end about one inch from one side; then cross-wise at equal distances into six pieces. This makes six small squares of comb, and the same number of half squares of the one inch strip first cut off. In packing these into the cans we first place two of the smaller pieces, or half squares, side by side in the bottom of the can, then lay two of the squares on top of these. In this way three cans can be filled with each comb.
Extracted honey is then poured over the comb honey to fill up the eervices and empty space, and make up the weight. It also keeps the comb honey in a buoyant state, so that it does not mash up in ship ping. It is advisable to make it a practice to always heat extracted honey before putting it on the market, as it prevents granulation for a much longer time. The liquid honey is filled in quite warm, and the cans are immediately and tightly closed. Nothing but first-class honey should be put up for the market under any circumstances. If this policy is adhered to, a profitable trade can soon be secured.
EXTRACTED Honey.
An average yield per colony, well situated in a good locality, should be at least 100 pounds of extracted honey. During favorable seasons, and where the bees can be gotten into the best possible condition for the honey flows, this can even be doubled, or better. This is meant as an average per colony for an entire apiary. Some colonies, especially strong, may gather as much as four or five hundred pounds of extracted honey in a single season, if rightly managed. A sufficient supply of empty combs, given at the right time, so that the bees will have all the room needed, will help much toward accomplishing this. At the same time, there will be colonies in the same yard that will not reach above the hundred pound mark, if that much, thereby bringing the average for the entire apiary down to one hundred pounds, more or less, according to the season.
Two styles of supers are in general use for extracted honey production, and for a long time it was customary to use the same deep hives for supers as for the main hive body or brood chamber below. In more recent years, the shallower supers have become very popular, and their use for extracted honey production, as well as for comb honey, is on the increase. The finished product is removed from the hives the same way as described under "Taking Off Honey," and stacked up in the honey house.
The extractor should be of such size that the baskets will properly take the frames in use. Those most commonly employed are the ones with baskets, wide enough to take the regular deep Langstroth frames, generally known as the No. 15 size; but, since these baskets are too narrow to hold two of the shallow frames, 5% inches in depth, it is recommended that the next large size, the No. 17, with eleven inch wide baskets, be purchased. Although the price is slightly higher, the advantages of being able to extract two of the shallow combs in each basket instead of only one, if the beekeeper adopts such frames at any time, or of making it easier to dispose of if desired, overbalances the difference.
The two-frame size is sufficiently large for the average beekeeper. The larger extractors are difficult to operate by hand, and it is only the extensive beekeeper, with large numbers of colonies of bees, who can practicably install the large power machines.
Before honey can be extracted from the combs, the exppings must be removed, and special uneapping knives are used for this. A common, very sharp, butcher knife, however, can be used for the purpose just as well.
The combs are shaved off over an uncapping can and fall on a screen, so that the honey drains off and collects below, where it may be drawn off. A home-made and far less expensive arrangement is constructed out of two common tubes, by replacing the bottom of one of the tubs by coarse screen wire, bracing this well from below, and supplying the other with a honey gate. A plain narrow board at the top, with a nail driven through, serves as a pivot on which to support and revolve the combs in unequping.
The uncapped combs are placed in the baskets of the extractor and rapidly revolved, so that the centrifugal force causes the honey to fly out against the wall of the extractor. This accumulates below and is drawn off into a pair or large can. As it contains many small bits of comb and wax, it is necessary to strain it. The general way is to pass this honey through a straining cloth over a large storage tank especially constructed for the purpose. Another tub may be used for this by the average small beekeeper. Instead of sewing the cloth to a large hoop, which is preferable to tying it over the top of the tub, a piece of one inch mesh poultry netting placed over the tub and pressed down slightly, over which a square yard of strainer cloth is simply laid, serves the purpose most admirably. This gives an opportunity to remove the cloth quickly, when necessary to be washed, and for it to be easily replaced.
Various other methods of straining the honey are employed. Some beekeepers do not strain it at all, but use large honey tanks, in which the particles rise to the top and the clear honey is drawn off below. Care must be exercised to allow sufficient time for this. It is a credit to the apiarist to produce an absolutely clear and sparkling article for the market, and it will prove an advertisement in every instance.
Extraeted honey is put up for market mostly in the regular square five-gallon, or 60-pound, tin cans, generally packed two in a wooden box or case, although some single cans in a case are used. In Texas, however, the friction top pails are much used also. In the cities, much honey is put up in various sizes and kinds of small glass jars, bottles and tumblers. Much extracted honey is used in packing bulk comb honey in the various styles of packages in which it is marketed.
## 10.11 Marketing Honey.
In many cases the home market will prove a good place for the average beekeeper to dispose of a crop of honey, especially if it is not a large one. This market should be cultivated first, in all instances, save where it is already supplied. Neighboring communities should next be visited, and, if the people are properly approached and the value of honey as a food exploited in the right manner, much of it will not only be disposed of, but at a good price. This is by far the wisest plan, and if more beekeopers would follow it, instead of shipping their honey to the general market, a more universal use of honey would be established, and, being distributed much more properly, would result in better honey prices. This applies to a vast number of beekeepers, except in some of the best beekeeping sections of Texas, where honey is very plentiful. An advantage is, that the retail price of two or three cents more per pound than the general market price, received in this way, not only pays the beekeeper well for his trouble, but increases his net profit. However, the disposition of a honey crop, especially if it is a large one, often becomes a serious question with some beekeepers who are good producers, but very poor salesmen. Fortunately, there are a number of honest and reliable honey buyers in Texas, who purchase large quantities of honey, frequently entire crops, large or small. This affords an outlet for any honey that is left after the home market has been supplied. As a rule, when these buyers purchase whatever quantity of honey the beekeeper has to sell, they send him shipping instructions, together with properly addressed tags, and he bills it directly to them.
The price received by the producer is usually 1/4 to 1/2 cent lower than that obtained by the honey buyer, this being the latter's commission for his part in the disposition of the honey. An advantage of this method to the beekeeper is that, although the price received may be a little less, he can sell his output with little trouble after itis produced, and then devote his time to other things that may be worth more than the difference in the price obtained.
A large number of beekeepers ship their honey direct to jobbers, retailers, or consumers, as the case may be, instead of selling to the honey buyers. This enables them to get a good price for their crops, as they receive the difference in the price of honey or, in other words, save the middle men's profits. It takes time and experience for a beekeeper to work up such a market for his product. Once obtained, however, and always supplied with a first-class article of honey, it is not difficult to not only hold the trade, but advertise him so favorably that the demand for his product will increase from year to year.
Never ship honey to a commission man on commission. Although there are honest commission merchants in the state, that is not a practice in Texas. When honey is shipped to a distant market, every precaution should be taken to ascertain whether it is going to a reliable dealer.
LOW honey prices.
Compared with most other commodities that come in the same class as honey, the price of honey is lower than it ought to be. Although the argument is often made that this is due to honey being a luxury, rather than a necessary, it is not well grounded. There is little doubt that, with the proper and more general distribution of the honey crop, the price would be higher, which it should be--If for no other reason, because it is one of the most nutritious, healthful and economical of all foods.
The beekeepers are much to blame for the low prices of honey. One cause is that a large majority of them dump their honey crops on the general market at about the same time. This keeps prices down, as would be the ease with any other commodity if so disposed of. By keeping more of the honey off the general market, and distributing its sale over vast areas where it is seldom found on the tables of consumers, for no other reason than that it has never reached these places, the prices would be better. In this connection, judicious advertising and education regarding the true value of honey would help much.
A more serious reason is that of some producers quoting their honey lower than the general market prices. There is no excuse for this, except in the case of the inexperienced bekeeper who does so for lack of knowledge regarding the honey markets and prices. Whatever the cause, the evil effects of such action are the same. It is advisable for new as well as veteran producers to keep posted by reading bee journals. The beekeeper who does not read one or more bee journals is nearly always a detriment to the honey market, while the extra price that might be obtained by perusing them would pay for more than a dozen subscriptions. However, there are some beekeepers with experience who are guilty of keeping the price of honey down.
It is to be regretted that the blame for the low prices of honey, as compared with other similar commodities, rests with the beekeepers themselves, and it is hoped that the time is not far distant when a stronger effort will be made toward remedying this fault. Co-operation in the direction of raising the prices of honey gradually to a
6-lb. friotion top pails, 10 in a case, per 1b...................10e 3-lb. friotion top pails, 20 in a case, per 1b...................101%2e Comb Honey.
60-lb. cans with 8-in. screw caps, 2 in a case, per 1b...................11e 12-lb. friotion top pails, 10 in a case, per 1b...................11%2e 6-lb. friotion top pails, 10 in a case, per 1b...................12c 3-lb. friotion top pails, 20 in a case, per 1b...................12%2e Our terms are F. O. B. our shipping points, sight draft attached to bill of lading, subject to examination.
Trusting that we may hear from you if you are in need of good honey, or that you will remember us in the future when you may need some, we are,
Every beekeeper must necessarily change the werding in connection with the price lists to suit his individual requirements. It may be well to say that too much should not be expected from the efforts thus made toward securing buyers, as it is not uncommon for dozens of these letters not to bring a reply. Yet a single one of them may secure a customer for all the honey on hand, and perhaps a permanent customer for many years.
## Shipping, sight draft attached.