348 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



SELLING HONEY. 



Sell Early; Keep Old Customers; Advertise; 



How to Utilize the Honey from 



Cappings. 



Let us never forget, let us lieep it 

 ever in mind, let us repeat it over and 

 over, that the selHng-of the crop is fully 

 as important as its production Near- 

 ly every veteran, successful bee-keeper 

 has developed some system or method 

 of disposing- of his crop, and Mr. E. W. 

 Alexander, of New York, is certainly a 

 veteran and successful, and here is 

 what he writes Gleanings on this all- 

 important subject. 



This is a very important part of our 

 business— one which we should look at 

 from several different points. First, 

 we should take special care in produc- 

 ing either comb or extracted honey so 

 that it will be of the very best quality; 

 and we should put it up in the most 

 convenient and salable package possi- 

 ble. Then we should have it ready for 

 market as soon as the market is ready 

 for it. 



Here is a point that many are very 

 negligent about. They have other 

 work to attend to, and think their honey 

 can wait until they can do their odd 

 jobs, and foolishly they try to make 

 themselves believe the price will rise, 

 and they will get more later on. I have 

 never known this to be so. On the 

 contrary, the price is sure to decline 

 until it is hard to sell at any price. 

 Now, don't allow valuable time to slip 

 by, leaving your honey on j^our hands, 

 and then complain that there is no 

 money in bees. Just watch a success- 

 ful manufacturer or merchant and see 

 how he is ever on the alert for any 

 thing that can be turned to advantage; 

 and if you expect to succeed as th^y do 

 you must also watch these points. 



In regard to sending your honey to 

 commission men to sell for you, I must 

 say that many times their returns are 

 far from satisfactory. When you find 

 a square commission man it is a very 

 good way to dispose of your crop. But 

 I pity you if you ai-e caught as I ha^e 

 been by diiterent parties. Before we 

 commenced to sell our honey direct to 

 dealers I thought seriously of going out 

 of the business, as we could not pro- 

 duce extracted honey for the returns 

 these men sometimes made. One lot 



in particular, of about four tons of as 

 nice clover honey as I ever saw, he 

 claimed to have sold at four cents per 

 pound. Another lot of nearly a car- 

 load to another party brought us only 

 three cents net, and I have good 

 reasons for believing that each lot in 

 question was sold for a good price. 

 So, from past experience my advice is 

 to be careful where you send your 

 hone}'. If you are a little short of 

 customers, just advertise it in our bee 

 journals and you will soon have 

 chances to sell at a fair price; then you 

 will know what you are to have, and 

 when to expect it; and, as a general 

 thing you will be better satisfied with 

 the result. 



Another important part is, don't try 

 to sell your honey for more than it is 

 worth in the common markets. Here 

 many make mistakes. Some years ago 

 we made this mistake, and lost a cus- 

 tomer who had for several years 

 bonght quite a large amount. This 

 time he paid us one-fourth cent per 

 pound more for nearly five tons than 

 he could get for it, losing about $25.00 

 thereby, when he expected to make 

 that amount, and we lost a customer 

 who at that time was worth nearly as 

 much annually to us. If you can sell 

 your crop in a small retail way I can 

 see no reason why you should not have 

 the same price as any other retailer. 

 But when you sell in large quantities 

 to parties who sell to those who have 

 to retail it out in small packages, then 

 remember that they must have a 

 margin of profit to induce them to in- 

 vest their money in it. This matter of 

 holding a customer is. well worth our 

 consideration. 



No man in business can afford to 

 lose one if he can help it. Since we 

 have given this part of our business 

 especial attention we have had no 

 trouble in selling our honey at a fair 

 price early in the season. We think 

 this a better way, and have the money 

 soon on interest, than to hang on try- 

 ing to squeeze out the last cent from a 

 dealer who will never buy from you 

 again if he can help it. I always like 

 to have a pleased customer, for such 

 are sure to buy another year. We 

 have been censured man}' times by 

 some honey producers for selling our 

 honey at the price we do; but I like to 

 see the summer work all finished up 

 before bad weather comes, and know 

 that everything is prepared for winter; 

 then we can turn our attention to other 

 matters for a few months. 



