THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



305 



publication and didn't get enough sales 

 from It to pay the bill, if all the money 

 had been turned in. I know no rule to 

 tell which are the ones that will pay and 

 that will not. Wish 1 did, it would be 

 quite a saving. 



To sum it all up— good, well-ripened 

 honey, in new, clean packages, such as 

 your customers like, put before cus- 



tomers in a straightforward way, and 

 handled in a business way. always treat- 

 ing others as you would be treated, can 

 not help bringing success in selling. Co- 

 operate with your neighbors. Do not try 

 to undersell any body. Have a fair price 

 and stick to it. 



Richland Center, Wis., May 6, 1910. 



Retailing Honey and Building up a Profitable 

 Grocery Trade. 



F. B. CAVANAGH. 



"~n HE most 

 T^ profitable 

 method of turn- 

 ing the season's 

 output into cash 

 may be most 

 logically decided 

 by an examina- 

 tion of the man 

 and the condi- 

 tions under 

 which he is 

 placed. Some are naturally poor sales- 

 man, either by personal interview or 

 letter writing. As I, myself, am one of 

 this class, I wish to offer the encourage- 

 ment to such that salesmanship is largely 

 an acquired art, derived through study 

 and experience. 



Retailing honey is, to a certain extent, 

 a separate business from producing it. 

 If one can realize enough extra net profit 

 at retail, above wholesale prices, to bring 

 profits equal to those of any other busi- 

 ness in which he might engage during 

 winter months, then by all means retail 

 the honey, for, by so doing, one is con- 

 tributing his share toward maintaining 

 prices and increasing the consumption of 

 honey. For the purpose of being more 

 clearly understood in this article I wish 

 to designate retail sales as applying to 

 house to house canvas, grocery trade and 

 small mail orders only; classing large 



orders to bottlers, commission house 

 consignments and sales to manufacturers 

 as wholesale shipments. 



I am satisfied that the majority of 

 bee keepers who now wholesale their 

 honey, do so ignorantly, neither realizing 

 the profits to be derived nor the great 

 advantage in gaining a permanent 

 market. The relative price paid for ex- 

 tracted honey by the consumer is about 

 double the wholesale price. Now, who 

 is making the most money out of his 

 effort put forth, the man who produces 

 and sells a carload of honey at 7c, or he 

 who buys that 7c-honey, and retails it 

 at 15c to the consumer? 



That a house to house trade in honey 

 is a most profitable business has often 

 been proved. 1 know a man who has 

 for several years bought large quantities 

 of honey and supplied some 10,000 

 customers. As he is an expert bee 

 keeper, as well as an ex-bee keeper, it is 

 obvious that his present pasture is not 

 less rich than the bee keeping field. He 

 has become so well acquainted with his 

 customers that he no longer has to "talk 

 honey," but, as he himself expresses it, 

 has only to stick his head through the 

 door and ask "how much?" Further- 

 more, he is a specialist in selling honey; 

 gets 15c a pound for extracted honey, 

 and carries honey of a quality well 

 worth it. It is only fair to admit that 



