310 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



time as he can see you without neglect- 

 ing his customers, then go up to him as 

 though you could and would do him a 

 favor. Tell him who you are, and whose 

 goods you are selling, and, while telling 

 him this, open your sample case, take 

 out your samples and stand them on the 

 counter in nice, attractive shape. Don't 

 have them scattered all over the store. 

 Commence talking bees and honey, and, 

 if you are well posted on honey and bees, 

 you are sure to get his attention at once, 

 then you can tell him many things he 

 never thought of, and keep right on 

 talking about the different kinds of honey, 

 also the bees, etc. One will soon get so 

 he can talk bees, bees, bees, all day long, 

 or at least long enough to secure an 

 order. 



Now let me tell you about the very 

 best bait I ever threw out to get atten- 

 tion. It is this: A small, glass, or ob- 

 servatory, one-frame hive, say 5x7 

 inches, or 6 x 8 inches in size. Have 

 this comb containing brood in all stages, 

 honey and pollen, in short, a nice little 

 colony of bees so you can show workers, 

 drones and queen, and be prepared to 

 tell him anything he may ask about. 

 Don't try to make a big display with the 

 bees, just merely set the hive out on the 

 counter, and the bees will do the rest. 

 They will capture the grocer at once, then 

 you can talk business to advantage. 1 

 have landed many an order in this way. 



Now I would like to say something 

 about selling goods on time. A firm that 

 is selling goods all the year can manage 

 to give time, because the drummer gets 

 around often to look after collections, 

 but a honey man sells two or three 

 months to the grocer, and he would do 

 best to sell for cash. The nicest, best 

 and safest way we have ever found to 

 get all the orders we can in a town or 

 city, is by telling our customer that we 

 will deliver the goods right in his store; 

 we to pay the freight and sell for cash. 

 We then ship the goods in our own name, 

 go with the goods, hire an expressman to 

 help deliver the goods, and collect as we 

 go. If they have no money, keep the 



honey. It is better than some one's 

 credit who refuses to pay on delivery, 

 Either store the undelivered goods with 

 some one who is likely to want it later, 

 or take it back home. 



My purpose is to help (if I can) those 

 who will work up a home market. I 

 have already told about the wholesale 

 grocery trade, and now wish to say 

 something about a retail, or house to 

 house, trade. This last mentioned trade 

 is the very best we have ever found. 



You would ba surprised to see what 

 large amounts of honey can be sold if 

 one will only start out in proper shape. 

 Here comes in the same idea about wear- 

 ing good clothes. Don't go around look- 

 ing like a ditch digger or garbage 

 gatherer. Look clean and neat. It pays; 

 besides, it's our duty. Any good man or 

 woman ought to be able to work a city 

 of 20,000 people, but they will have to 

 hustle. Let our man go out with 

 samples in suitable packages that they 

 may show and have the would-be- 

 customer look at them, and taste the 

 honey. Try hard to get the children to 

 taste, and nine-tenths of them will say 

 "mama, buy some." We try and deliver 

 once a week. Monday is the best day 

 because the majority of people receive 

 their week's pay on Saturday, and are 

 almost sure to have money on Monday 

 to pay for the honey. 



When we start out to sell, we start at 

 one side of the tov/n, and work the 

 street thorough. Then the next street, 

 and so on, till we have covered the 

 whole town. By that time it is time to 

 go over the same ground again. We 

 visit every house, office, garage, shop, 

 etc., but never go into a saloon, no sir! 

 We usually take orders for five days, 

 and then deliver on the sixth. If any 

 customer is not prepared to pay, why 

 use them just as well as though they 

 were. We don"t any of us always have 

 money. Say to them: "We will bring 

 the honey the next delivery day." 



1 might say something about size of 

 packages, price of honey, etc., but that 



