THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



59 



glass for containers, its use shows up 

 honey more attractively than any other 

 package. A bottle, jar, or pitcher filled 

 with honey, and held up to the light, 

 glitters, and glimmers, and shimmers, 

 and shines, and shows the color and body 

 of the honey, allows the customer to 

 "taste it with her eyes," so to speak. In 

 a grocery store where goods must sell 

 themselves by their appearance, glass 

 allows honey to do its own talking and 

 showing off of its beauties, hence it is 

 supreme for that purpose. If these glass 

 packages are of such a nature as to be 

 of some use after the honey has been 

 used, it will help reduce the expense to 

 the consumer. I have recently been 

 looking over the report of the National 

 convention held last fall at Albany, N. Y., 

 and I note that this question of retail- 

 honey-packages received a most thorough 

 discussion. On this point of using glass. 

 Mr. Davis of New York, said, among 

 other things: 



I think the housewife would be willing 

 to pay the added expense, the difference 

 between glass and tin, provided the 

 glass is something which she can use 

 in household preoarations, such as the 

 Mason jar or the Economy jar, with the 

 vacuum or easy seal and use that glass 

 receptacle in some other way in the 

 future. There is absolutely no doubt 

 that the argum.ent is in favor of the glass 

 package as against the tin, but it is 

 really an expense on the consumers, 

 unless they can use it in some other way 

 in the future. 



Right along in this line, Mr Crane of 

 Vermont, who has had years of experi- 

 ence in putting up honey for the retail 

 grocery trade, said: 



We have had som.e experience along 

 this line; we sell through the wholesale 

 grocery trade to the retailer, and I find 

 the trade in glass is increasing very 

 rapidly, whereas the tin package (we 

 put up the quart friction-top tin can) is 

 decreasing, and the reason is that it sells 

 in glass better than tin, because it shows 

 it up. There are a great many people 

 who like honey that never think to order 

 or buy it unless their attention is called 

 to it either by inquiry or seeing it. The 

 tin package has a label on it, but it does 

 not catch their eye as honey in the glass 



does. There is a difference in the price. 

 The retail grocer has his choice, and he 

 will pick the glass package 99 times out 

 of 100. 



When the bee keeper can meet his 

 customers personally, the use of glass 

 packages is unnecessary. In fact, the 

 cheaper package has the advantage, as 

 it allows the customer to get more honey 

 for the same price. No matter what the 

 package, the bee keeper can open it, and 

 expose the contents, also give a taste of 

 the honey which is the most potent argu- 

 ment. When consumers can be reached 

 in this manner, tin pails or cans are the 

 ideal packages. This style of package 

 allows the honey to be put up and offered 

 in larger quantities. On this point, Mr. 

 Hershiser, at the Albany convention 

 said: 



I use a five-pound lard pail, and I like 

 the flaring lard pail; it the cheapest tin 

 package I can get. The cheaper the 

 package you can use, the more honey 

 you can sell, and seven pounds will go 

 for a dollar just as quickly, practically, 

 as though you put up ten. 



In a mail order trade, it matters little 

 what the package is, so long as it carries 

 the honey safely and does not cost too 

 much The customer can't see the honey 

 nor the package before buying, conse- 

 quently attractiveness cuts no figure. 

 By the way, my experience in the mail 

 order trade has given me dreams of 

 some one, some day, building up an 

 immense business in selling honey in 

 small quantities all over the country,, 

 sending it by express. Of course, the 

 quantity can't be too small, as the trans- 

 portation charges would be too great in 

 proportion to the cost. For this trade I 

 think that the paper bottles packed in 

 a neat, light, wooden box would be the 

 ideal package. Ten pound-bottles, filled 

 with honey, might be sold for $1.50, and 

 express would not average over 50 cts. 

 thus giving the consumer the finest 

 possible article of extracted honey at 20 

 cts. a pound. With the right kind of 

 honey, management and advertising, I 

 am satisfied that an immense trade of 

 this kind might be established. 



