138 



(i LEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



tninulo I see it, and you can't sell me any of 

 your ' gieu cose '—not if I know it.'' 



" No, madam, I do not think I can sell a wo- 

 man who has lived for thirty-five years or 

 thc^rt^abuui" (she was fifty if she was a day). 

 " for she has lived long enough not to be fooled 

 with glucose; but, my dear madam, will you 

 please try this, and see if you ever tasted glu- 

 cose like this? Your little boy there woula like 

 a taste, I know, madam. Is that your oldest 

 child, madam ?" 



" Well, now, really, don't I look old enough 

 to be his grandmother, let alone being his 

 mother?" (The cover is off and they are both 

 tasting.) 



•' Well, really, madam, I should hardly think 



ou his grandmother." 



" Do you really mean it? This is different 

 strained honey than I ever tasted before; and if 

 you say it is pure I will take it." 



I said it was pure, and left it. 



" Good-day, sir. Would you like a little hon- 

 ey this morning?" 



" Well, I don't know as I do. Oh ! you are the 

 one who lives over on the Stone farm, ain't 

 you?" 



" Yes, there is where I stop." 



" Yes, Llu're is where I saw you and your bees 

 as I drove by there. How much a jar ? " 



" Fifty cents." 



Leave four jars, and here is your sugar." 



The next is a large house and barn. I rap. 

 The door is opened. A head and face appears 

 with a "don't want any thing." 



"Please excuse me, madam; but would you 

 be kind enough to give me a drink of water? " 

 I get the drink, with a " thank you, madam: 

 this is quite a fine day for this timeof the year." 



"Oh, yes! it is quite nice weather, but too 

 warm to be healthy. Don't you think so ? " 



" Well, for my part I rather like thi'* weather. 

 I see you have a Southern mockingbird there. 

 What do you feed it on? it doesn't look well. 

 I had one I fed on sunflower seeds and chopped 

 meat, and he did quite well after that." 



" Oh! I am glad to know it, for ray bird has 

 not done well at all. Have you honey there? 

 I thought when you rapped you were a tin- 

 peddler." 



" Yes, ma'am. I have a very fine article of ex- 

 tracted honey— fifty cents a jar. Would you 

 like one?" 



"Yes, if it is good honey I will take one." 

 (She got it.) 



" Madam, good-morning. Would you like a 

 jar of honey to-day ? " 



" No, I don't want any made honey. I have 

 made artificial honey myself 'fore now, and I 

 know just how it's made, as I made it over 

 twenty years ago." 



" Now, ray dear madam, you must admit that 

 the world moves, and that in the last twenty 

 years there have been some improvements, 



even in the production of honey; and now, my 

 dear madam, will you please sample this and 

 see if it is as good as you used to make, as I 

 should like to get an expert's opinion on it." 

 (.She tastes and smacks and tastes.) 



" Well, now, really I must say that is a prime 

 good honey, and 1 do really wish you would 

 give me the recipe for making it. If you will I 

 will take two jars." 



She gets the jars, I get the dollar, and tell 

 lier to get a hive of bees. 



■■ I have some tine honey here, madam, that I 

 raised myself. Would you like a jar this morn- 

 ing?" 



" No, sir. I do not like it. I can not eat it. 

 It chokes me, and I do not want it.'" (Bang 

 goes the door.) 



Going down the road a little piece I meet a 

 man and pass the time of day — talk aoout the 

 weather and crops; praise his cur dog, ask 

 about his farm, tind lie lives where the door was 

 banged in my face; show him the honey, get 

 him to taste it; talk about bees, persuade him 

 he ought to eat honey for throat trouble; con- 

 vince him it is good for consumptives, having 

 found out his daughter was sick with it; sold 

 him four jars, and since that time he has driven 

 over to my place and bought six more. 



"Madam, would you like a jar of honey to- 

 day?" 



" Is it pure — real pure bees' honey, or is it 

 some you made yourself?" 



" Yes, ma'am, it is real pure bees' honey." 



" Well, if it is I will take a jar." 



That is about the way I found it. When I 

 could convince the people that it was a good 

 article, I could sell, as a rule; but there were 

 many, many places 1 could not sell at all. But 

 wherever I have sold I can sell again. I think 

 that, by securing the confidence of the people, 

 we all could dispose of our crop near home. 



Charlton City, Mass., Dec. 34. 



[I wish we might have more of these experi- 

 ences in selling honey. Beekeepers should do 

 less at flooaing the market at the great centers 

 where competition is strong, aud more at de- 

 veloping a home market. Once peddling honey 

 gives the bee-keeper a reputation, and after 

 that tiie trade will, to a great extent, come to 

 him, instead of his having to go to it. 1 fancy 

 friend Vinal gets or will get orders right along 

 from these customers he has been telling us 

 about— even from the "door-slamming ones." — 

 Ed. J 



im I ^ 



SELLING ON COMMISSION. 



SOME OF THE DANGERS POINTED OUT. 



By J. S. HartzeU. 



For some time past, articles have appeared in 

 the bee-journals relative to the disposal of 

 honey; and many theories have been advanced 

 as to how to obtain prices to justify the pro- 

 ducer. Many complaints have appeared against 

 commission men, and well there might be, has 



