504 



THE BEE-KEEPERS" REVIEW 



Jones is never a producer but is a person 

 who can be induced to become a buyer. 

 then Smith has increased the demand 

 and made competition for the article he 

 has for sale and therefore a tendency for 

 better prices; and this is legitimate busi- 

 ness for bee keepers and bee associa- 

 tions—trying to induce people who are 

 not users of honey to become such. 

 And. by the way, the National Society 

 had a fund for that very purpose, have 

 any results come from its use? 



THE IMPORTANCE OF QUALITY. 



Nothing will take the place of quality 

 in getting better prices. Poor honey not 

 only spoils its own price but of other good 

 honey, by spoiling what would otherwise 

 be a good customer. If you have poor 

 honey, through no fault of your own, do 

 not try to force it on your customers, 

 but send it to large bakeries and sell it 

 for what it will bring. Even when a 

 customer sees and tastes the honey, it is 

 risky, for he may be hungry at the time, 

 and it may taste better than it will at 

 other times; or it may be lacking in wear- 

 ing qualities; or, in other words, may 

 taste good at first, but soon get tiresom,e. 

 Honey dew is a good example of this 

 kind of honey. 



HOW TO MAKE THE PRICE OF HONEY. 



This is the way 1 would do it. Sup- 

 pose best white is selling in Chicago at 

 8c for extracted and 15c for comb: 

 From this we must take freight and 

 commission. Freight on comb honey 

 from Richland Center to Chicago is first 

 class, or 50c per 100; on extracted, 20c 

 per 100, or third class. Commission on 

 each is 10 per cent., which would leave 

 the comb honey worth to the producer 

 about 13c per lb.; or, if he sold at home 

 for 13c per lb. he would get as much 

 money as though he sold through a com- 

 mission house in the city for 15c per lb. 

 But, usually he can get more nearly the 

 city price, say, 14c, and that would be 

 my asking price, knowing that if I had to 

 come down to 13c I was still safe. 



For the extracted I would ask the full 



wholesale pride; for I think the difference 

 in wholesale price and retail would not 

 count in that case; for. if any dealer 

 paid the wholesale price in the city and 

 shipped it in competition with nie I would 

 still have freight and commission the 

 advantage of him. 



PACKAGES. 



The style of package used should be 

 adapted to your customer's needs; re- 

 membering always that your customers 

 are supreme in their decision, no matter 

 what you think. 1 have found five gallon 

 cans, both round jacketed, and square 

 boxed, suited to all my needs; the amount 

 I sell in 5- and 10-lb. pails being too 

 small to mention. 



When you once get a customer, keep 

 him, Treat all justly, and give all you 

 promise. If misunderstandings occur, be 

 willing to do more than Justice, strictly 

 enforced, would demand. and that 

 customer will be yours always. 



ADVERTISING. 



It matters not how the producer con- 

 cludes to sell his honey, whether by mail 

 orders, peddling, consignment to commis- 

 sion men, or wholesaling to some jobber, 

 he must first let his proposed customers 

 know what he has. If it is a large 

 dealer, one letter may do it all; but if his 

 prospective buyers are scattered over a 

 whole state there is no practical way to 

 reach them except through the news- 

 papers taken in that state. Suppose he 

 concludes to try selling his honey in 

 Des Moines, Iowa. His first business 

 would be to go to some newspaper office 

 of his home town and look up in their 

 directory the different papers published 

 in Des Moines. Next select the one with 

 the greatest number of people in the city, 

 and insert proper announcement of what 

 he had to sell. If he gets no response, or 

 not enough to make it a paying invest- 

 ment, he has made a mistake and has 

 lost money and must try again. Not 

 all advertisements pay. My experience 

 has been that nearly one-half are fail- 

 ures. I advertised once in a high-priced 



