302 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



A Corporation of National Scope for Handling 

 the Honey Sales 



GEO. W. WILLIAMS, 



Prcs. Redkcy Apiary Company. 



'^^yi PROPOS of the matter of mar- 

 ^..i^rV ^^'^ing o"!" honey crop, I have 

 been very much interested in 

 the recent discussions. I fully believe 

 that we producers ought to, and can, by 

 proper efforts secure better prices than 

 we have been getting. Two factors 

 have been somewhat against us in the 

 past, viz., lack of proper exploitation, 

 if you will pardon the expression, and 

 a lack of proper marketing systems. 



A L.'VRGE AMOUNT OF HONEY CAN BE SOLD 

 IN SMALL VILLAGES. 



In regard to the first, it is astonish- 

 ing the amount of honey that can be 

 sold even in a small village by judicious 

 advertising. As honey is in the nature 

 of a luxury, it has to be constantly pre- 

 sented to prospective customers, and 

 such effort invariably brings results. 

 The second factor relates more closely 

 to a class of producers who are care- 

 less in producing and "mean" in mar- 

 keting. They offer that second rate 

 product at a lower price than the prac- 

 tical producer wishes to sell for. This 

 type of producer does more to demor- 

 alize local prices than almost any other 

 one thing. I sometimes feel that foul 

 brood is a blessing in disguise, as it is 

 rapidly eliminating this type of pro- 

 ducer. 



A TRINITY OF CURES. 



So much for the diagnosis of the 

 trouble — now for the remedy. Please 

 allow me to prescribe a trinity of cures. 

 1st. Educate the general public to eat 

 honey and believe it necessary for their 

 well-being and happiness. 2nd. Edu- 

 cate the producers to produce a uniform- 

 formly delicious article that will appeal 

 to the consumer and "when once a cus- 

 tomer, always a customer." 3rd. Some 



means to bring the producer and con- 

 sumer closer together, and incidentally 

 bring the 1st and 2nd about. 



Now, as to the 1st, we have an ob- 

 ject lesson in the fact that the public 

 have been educated to think that parched 

 wheat (postum) makes an excellent bev- 

 erage, and that all sorts of breakfast 

 foods, that have about as much relish 

 to them as chips and sawdust, are nec- 

 essary to the health and happiness of 

 the human race. When "printer's ink," 

 judiciously applied, does such wonders 

 with such unpromising materials, then 

 it seems hopeful that a minimum of the 

 same medium, properly applied would 

 accomplish manifold more, when such a 

 delicious and wholesome food as honey, 

 is similarly applied. 



If we are to consider seriously a prop- 

 osition to advertise and sell the honey 

 of all the producers of the U. S., we 

 have a huge proposition before us. But 

 I believe that such a proposition is in 

 our reach and when carried out will 

 add a snug profit to each pound pro- 

 duced and give a market for many times 

 the amount now produced. 



NATIONAL CO-OPERATIVE ASSOCIATION. 



To do these things would require a 

 corporation close enough to do business 

 without being unduly hampered, with a 

 large amount of money behind it, and 

 elastic enough to cover the territory of 

 the U. S. in a co-operative organization. 

 And, emphatically, a uniform product 

 to be sold under a copyrighted brand. 

 My idea of this would be to organize 

 a joint stock company, with sufficient 

 capital stock to be sold to honey pro- 

 ducers to furnish the funds to organize 

 and start operations. 



The business to be located at some 



