HONEY-PEDDLIXG. 



276 



HONEY-PEDDLmG, 



reniovod from Clevelaiul ; and although ]iow 

 a practicing attorney he does considerable 

 at selling honey, either direct to consumers 

 or to the grocers. 



Here is another plan, providing one can 

 trade honey for other useful articles too nu- 

 merous to mention. Even if one did not 

 sell much he would get a day of royal sport. 

 Well, here is the Vinal plan : 



TRAniNG HONEY FOR DUCKS, PIG?, PUPS, ETC. 



In all the literature on bees and honey, we are 

 urged to develop the home market. Acting on the 

 advice, after I had traveled over my regular route 

 this faU I went into an entirely new locality. After 

 enjoying the sceuery and tlie sunlight for about a 

 five-mile drive I called at a farmhouse and inquired 

 of the good lady if she would like some lioney. 



" Well, yes. I sliould like some, but I have no 

 money." 



Seeing some ducks, I offered to trade honey for 

 ducks; and for a pair I gave four pint jars of honey. 



Calling at another house, I sold J3.00 worth for 

 cash; and while I was talking with the man one of 

 tlie ducks gave a quack, which led to an inquiry as 

 to wliat I had. I told them I had traded honey for 

 ducks. 



" Well, now, look here ; can't 1 trade you some 

 liens for some honey ? " 



I traded for half a dozen, and made the children, 

 I hope, happy (I was). In this way I passed the day, 

 and on my drive home I was trying to figure out my 

 profits. I had disposed of two gross of pint jars, 

 and 130 pounds of comb honey. For the pint jars I 

 received 35 cents; also 35 cents each for the sections 

 of comb. I had had a royal day's sport ; and as 1 

 listened to the quack of the ducks and geese, the 

 cackle of the hens, and squeal of the pigs, and look- 

 ed at the large box of eggs that I had in the wagon, 

 I thought I would have to send for some of Dr. 

 Mason's egg-preservative. After getting home 1 

 took account of stock. I had $54.40 cash, 108 dozen 

 eggs, 8 ducks, 1 goose, 3 pigs, 34 hens, and 1 buUpup. 

 The pup is for sale.) Geo. L. Vinal. 



Charlton City, Mass. 



Another experience is thus given by G. C. 

 Greiner, of La Salle, N. Y.: 



Peddling honey has, like every thing else, its ups 

 and downs. We don't always strike it rich. Some 

 days it may seem like terribly steep uphill business 

 while other days the money may roll in by the hand- 

 fuls. As an illustration, and a proof that the latter sen- 

 tence is almost literally true, let me give you one day's 

 experience. 



Late last fall I chanced to take a trip to Niagara 

 Kails with the intention of making a display of my 

 goods at the city market. At first, things looked a 

 little gloomy. Purchasers did not flock in as I had 

 hoped, until after some minutes of patient waiting. 

 One passing lady, in looking at my honey, asked, "Is 

 your honey pure ? " The reply I made must be imag- 

 ined, for it would fill more space than the editor would 

 be willing to allow. But let me emphasize — here is 

 where the blabbing came in. In answeiing her ques- 

 tion I delivered a good half-hour lecture in less than 

 two minutes, trying to convince her of the purity and 

 all the good points of my honey. In the mean time, 

 passing people had stopped to listen ; and by the time 

 my lady friend was ready to buy one of my quart cans 



I had quile a crowd arotmd me. To cut the s'ory 

 shoit, for quite a few minutes I handed out cans, most- 

 ly quarts, as faj-t as I could make the change, many of 

 the purchasers promising to buy more the next time I 

 attended the market, if the honey proved to be what I 

 had recommended it to be. 



When the market closed, at 11 am., I had a few cans 

 left. With ihese I drove to Main Street and tied my 

 horse in front of one of the stores, where I had a little 

 business to transact. A few minutes later, while I was 

 conversing with the storekeeper inside, some one 

 opened the door and inquired : 



" Hello ! where is this honey-man ? " 



After introducing myself he requested me to show 

 him what I had to sell. It did not take very long to 

 convince him that I carried the genuine article ; and 

 what pleased me still moie was the fact that he order- 

 ed two cans to be left at the corner drugstore across 

 the street. 



When I delivered the cans they were closely scruti- 

 nized by the clerks and some other parties who hap- 

 pened to be present, and one of the clerks asked : 



" What guarantee have we that this is pure honey?" 



Here another lecture-like conversation, too long to 

 be repeated, took place, the substance of which may be 

 concentrated in my reply : 



" First, pure honey and my name and address are on 

 every package ; and, second, back of this is the New 

 Yoik State law that prohibits all honey adulteration." 



Before I left the place I sold two more cans to those 

 other parties. 



A great help in selling honey on the road is a proper 

 traveling-outfit, which enables us to present our prod- 

 ucts in clean, neat, and inviting appearance. I know 

 from experience that at least one-fourth of my sales of 

 honey can be traced back directly to this feature. 



PEDDLING HONEY AT GROCERIES AND 

 OTHER RETAIL STORES. 



Mr. W. A. Selser, of 10 Vine St., Philadel- 

 phia, is not only a practical bee-keeper, but 

 he is also a large buyer of honey. In addi- 

 tion to the amount he produces in his own 

 apiaries, he buys up every year the product 

 of several large yards. All of this, mostly 

 extracted, he peddles out from a honey- 

 wagon to the retail trade. 



The secret of his success in selling and in 

 getting good prices is in putting up always 

 a first-class article in a neat and attractive 

 form. He advertises liberally, and every 

 one knows him about Philadelphia as "the 

 honey-man.'' In connection with his apiary 

 he has a bottling-shop shown in the top view 

 of the engraving. In a room in this build- 

 ing (see view at the right) he puts up all of 

 his extracted honey in Muth jars. See Ex- 

 tracted Honey. In this room is a large 

 steam-caldron that will hold perhaps two or 

 three barrels of honey at a time. Into this 

 he pours several choice grades of extracted 

 whether candied or not. A gentle heat is 

 applied until it is all brought to a liquid 

 condition. It is then heated to about 1-50 or 

 1(50 degrees Fahr., after which it is bottled 

 and sealed while hot. This, as is well 



