140 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Mar. 1 



General 

 Correspondence 



SOME OBSERVATIONS ON MARKETING 

 HONEY. 



Unequal Distribution; the UMnformed 

 Bee-keeper and the Devious Methods 

 of Some Honey-buyers the Source of 

 Low Prices. 



BY OREL L. HERSHISER. 



Continued from last issue. 



From the foregoing it is apparent that, un- 

 der normal conditions, honey sold to the 

 wholesale dealer at the jobbmg price, and 

 by him to the retail grocery, appears to re- 

 quire an advance of from 40 to 100 per cent 

 before it reaches the consumer, in other 

 words, honey which is sold by the producer 

 at from 14 to 16 cts. costs the consumer from 

 20 to 30. As profits and opportunities for 

 purchasing and selling are variable it will be 

 understood that the above figures are ap- 

 proximate; but they are sufficiently accurate 

 to serve the purpose of this discussion. To 

 apply the above figures to a specific exam- 

 ple easy to understand: If a bee-keeper has 

 a crop of honey worth $1000, if sold at the 

 jobbing price, the consuming public pays 

 from $1400 to $2000 for the same, which is 

 the amount the bee-keeper should receive 

 for such honey crop if he sells to the con- 

 sumer direct, except a reasonable discount 

 equivalent to the difference in the labor and 

 expense resulting from putting the honey 

 up in containers of considerable size for the 

 family trade instead of the small containers 

 handled by the grocery trade. Need any 

 thing further be said in favor of the produc- 

 er retailing his own honey? Let every bee- 

 keeper who can do so retail his own crop, 

 as far as possible, classifying his customers 

 as above pointed out; and if he is a good 

 salesman he will be abundantly compensated 

 for the extra work; and, coming m direct 

 contact with the consuming public, he is able 

 to educate it to the use of honey as only the 

 practical bee-keeper can. 



Th« bee-keeper should cultivate and de- 

 velop his ability as a salesman. He should 

 study what to say and what to leave unsaid. 

 He should acquire the art of versatility. A 

 certain line of argument or discussion will 

 win one customer while entirely different 

 tactics are required with another. Let what- 

 ever you say about your goods be the truth. 

 You produced the honey, and know all 

 about it. You were present from the time 

 the bees began work in the spring un- 

 til the crop was secured. You know how 

 the bees were built up for the harvest; when 

 the supers were put on; when you took them 

 from tne hives; with what care you kept the 

 different kinds of honey separate, and how 

 you allowed it to remain in the supers with 

 the bees until thoroughly ripe. 

 Be persistent but not obtrusive. A jovial 



and gentlemanly demeanor is a winner. 

 "Vinegar never catches flies." A naturally 

 sour or dyspeptic person may become inter- 

 ested in honey in spite of herself if the sales- 

 man, with seeming carelessness or indiffer- 

 ence, will manage to drop a remark that will 

 awaken interest be. ore madam closes the 

 door; such, for example, as ''My bees are the 

 Italian race, which are reputed to be the best 

 honey- gatherers;" or, "I make a specialty 

 of bee Keeping and honey production, and 

 my honey is as line as bees can make it," or 

 some other interest-inspiring comment. 

 Having gotten upon conversational terms 

 with your prospective customer, an ordinary 

 talker can easily keep up the interest on the 

 attractive subject of bees, and a sale is like- 

 ly to be made and a steady customer secured. 

 Most people are anxious to learn, from one 

 who actually knows, all about honey and the 

 mysteries of the honey-bees. 



Spend no time or talent in "knocking" 

 other bee keepers or retailers. It is true 

 that many of them sepm to think a good way 

 to get customers is to hunt up those some 

 other person has educated to the use of hon- 

 ey, and, in order to make a sale, quote a re- 

 duced price. It is true you are obliged to 

 do just what they should have done— go and 

 hunt up and educate to the use of honey a 

 customer or customers to take the place of 

 those you have lost to the cut-price retailer. 

 But do not say hard things about him. Pass 

 it up; and when the selling season is over, 

 and your pockets are bulging out with the 

 curr:ncy of the realm because of the fair 

 prices you have received, while his have a 

 lean emaciated appearance because of hav- 

 ing done an unprofitable business, he will 

 be ashamed of himself; but if he should ask 

 you for a loan it will be yours to reply, "My 

 friend, hereafter stick to established prices 

 and your pockets will bulge as do mine;" or, 

 "Go to t:.e ant, thou sluggard." 



The bee-keeper who retails his honey 

 should study well the matter of containers 

 to ascertain, as nearly as possible, the s'ze 

 with which he can sell at the greatest profit. 

 Having fixea the price for the family trade, 

 the larger the container the more honey will 

 he sell, for this is not the " hanc^to-mouth " 

 sort of customer. 



F'^r the retail grocery trade the smaller 

 containers are best. In selling to families, 

 offer the larger-sized package li'-st, and sell 

 the smaller sizes only when the larger sizes 

 will not go. Sell tin pails gross weight, and 

 you thus get paid an equivalent for the pail. 

 If necessary, explain why it is sold gross 

 weight. Glass fruit-jars should be charged 

 for at their value besides the value of the 

 honey. Jelly-glasses are sold by the dozen. 

 There are great possibilities in cultivating 

 the family trade; and if it were worked in 

 all sections of the country to the limit of 

 consumption I honestly believe that, with 

 prices 50 per cent higher than at present, 

 there would not be sufScient honey produced 

 to meet the demand. 



In seasons of plenty, sell all you can at re- 

 munerative prices; but do not sacrifice your 



