FIFTEENTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 531 



Glass jars of honey were packed in like manner and I do not recall 

 a single case of breakage being reported. 



The disadvantages of this meth®d are that it may not pay every 

 season, if the grocers get stocked up before you get to them and it 

 takes considerable time in preparing the honey for shipment as 

 grocers want extracted honey in glass and several sizes of tin packages 

 which makes the filling of orders rather tedious and fussy work un- 

 less you are well equipped for it. The letter writing and making out 

 bills, hookkeeping, etc., is considerable. It could not be done by the 

 beekeeper unless he has his beework out of his way and can devote 

 most of his time to the selling and shipping. 



THE CO-OPERATIVE PLAN THAT WORKS. 



I have sold my honey in large part through our Colorado Honey 

 Producers' Association for a number of years and with satisfactory re- 

 sults. No fussing with little orders or much bookkeeping, for the as- 

 sociation, comprised of between two and three hundred stockholders, 

 has a manager, bookkeeper, stenographer, etc., to look after that. 



All I have to do is to pack and mark my honey according to the rules 

 of the organization and either ship it in car lots with other members from 

 Boulder or ship it to Denver where the main office is located and have it 

 handled from there. If the car is loaded in Boulder, the manager or his 

 representative is present to inspect the honey and superintend the load- 

 ing. 



An advance is made to the beekeeper, if he needs it, on the day 

 the honey is shipped and remittance in full, less commission, comes in ten 

 days to three weeks. 



This marketing through the association cuts out the fuss and worry 

 over small details. The beekeepers have grown so used to selling in 

 large lots that many do not want customers coming to their homes for 

 honey at all — they do not solicit such business. It is an aggravation to 

 have to stop one's work and show a customer around for ten or fifteen 

 minutes and then only sell him one or more pounds of honey, especially 

 if one is busy. 



The prices secured for comb honey through the association are often 

 higher than the local grocers will pay in small one to five-case lots. The 

 association has a market that is little affected by the farmer-beekeepers' 

 honey of uncertain quality and grading. Numerous have been the times 

 that we association members would be loading out a car of comb honey 

 at $3.00 a case for No. 1 when the grocers would pay but $2.50 to $2.75 

 for honey in small lots, and then the grocers want you to trade all or 

 part of it out in goods. 



Personally, I like the co-operative method best, but the direct-to-the- 

 grocer selling is good in an emergency or where one is located 'favorably 

 and has the qualifications for successfully handling the business end of 

 such a deal. 



