228 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 15. 



We shall be having, from now on, several ar- 

 ticles on peddling. I believe this is a most im- 

 portant subject for bee-keepers to discuss; and 

 I would call special attention to the article in 

 this issue, showing how honey may be sold on 

 the wagon, patent-medicine s+yle. Even if we 

 stick up onr noses at the patent medicine, it is 

 perfectly legitimate and proper for us to follow 

 the methods the agent adopts for selling such 

 goods, providing they are fair and honorable. 



I should like to hear of other plans, and hope 

 those of our subscribers who have been success- 

 ful in disposing of their honey around home 

 will give us their experience. 



A CHAT WITH AN OLD HONEY-PEDDLER; HOW 



TO MAKE OFF GRADES OF HONEY MOVE OFF 



RAPIDLY. 



Later.— Since writing the above I have had a 

 pleasant call from Mr. Chalon Fowls, of Ober- 

 lin, who makes quite a business of selling honey 

 around home. He has built up quite a trade in 

 Oberlin, Elyria, and Lorain. The two latter 

 are towns about nine miles distant from Oberlin. 

 He sells nothing but choice honey, puts it up in 

 packages himself, and delivers it with his horse 

 and wagon to the groceries. They all know 

 him as the honey-man, and the one who sells 

 only pure goods. Knowing that he had had a 

 large experience, I read over to him what I 

 have written above, and asked him for sugges- 

 tions and corrections. 



" How about selling honey on commission ? " 



"I have never had any experii nee in that 

 line," he replied. "I can sell all 1 can produce, 

 and more too, direct. I notice." he continued, 

 " that you have not touched much on the mat- 

 ter of educating consumers on the uses of hon- 

 ey. I explain how it may Jje used for cooking. 

 We use honey largely in our house in place of 

 other sweets, for making cookies and the like; 

 and dark honeys are just as good as the best. 

 Honey that I take in the solar wax-extractor, 

 and that which is a little off and dark, will 

 make just as nice cookies as the very nicest 

 and best extracted honey. When out peddling 

 I take \vith me, written in duplicate with the 

 typewriter, one or more recipt s for cooking 

 with honey— such recipes as our family have 

 tested and knoiv to be good. Sometimes I take 

 with me a honey-cake made with some dark 

 off-grade honey I am offering. I give a small 

 sample of this cake to the lady of the house; and 

 if she likes it (as most of them do) she will buy 

 the dark honey for cooking, and the tir? i (lual- 

 ity for table use." 



"Say," said I, "why not send us copies of 

 these choice recipes? We will get out a lot of 

 them on the press, and then I think it would be 

 a good idea to put with them something in the 

 line of Why Eat Honey? One of the best 

 things I have seen in this line is something 

 that appeared in the last Review. 

 "I notice also," said Mr. Fowls, "that you 



have said nothing about the fact, now recog- 

 nized by nearly all physicians, that honey is th« 

 most eiisily digested of any of the sweets. I have 

 had i-t-veral calls for honey by invalids who 

 said their doctors had recommended them to 

 eat honey in place of any other sweets." 



" Do those people come again?" 



" They do, and say it agrees with them." 



'■ Prof. Cook, you know, has long maintained 

 that honey is digested nectar." 



" Do you," I said, changing the subject, "sell 

 to groceries as well as peddle out the honey?" 



" I do," he said; "but some of them do not 

 like it, and won't buy of me." 



"There is no reason why they should object, 

 for they know you to be the honey-man of the 

 town, and you have a right to sell your own 

 product." 



" Yes," said Mr. Fowls, " and I am very care- 

 ful not to sell under the grocers' prices, and tell 

 them so at the time of making my deliveries. 

 Then when I peddle to the consumers it is un- 

 derstood they can get it of me or at the gro- 

 ceries." 



" Do you ever run across adulterated honey?" 



' In Elyria I saw tumblers put up containing 

 glucose and honey. It was actually labeled 50 

 per cent glucose, .50 per cent honey." 



" That shows," I said, " that stringent pure- 

 food laws in this State are having some effect. 

 But how in the world can they sell such stuff if 

 the consumers know what it is?" 



"Oh!" said he, "foreigners buy it because it 

 is cheap." 



"I will tell^you what!;I think," said I. d" If 

 an analysis were made, I believe that about 99 

 per cent of that so-called honey and glucose 

 would be pure glucose, and the other one per 

 cent would be a little piece of dried comb stuck 

 in, to give it the appearance of honesty. The 

 concern that puts it up is probably afraid to 

 put it out without labeling it as adulterated. I 

 should be inclined to believe they would take 

 advantage of the statement on the label, and 

 make a larger per cent of adulteration than 

 was called for." 



"Say," said Mr. Fowls, changing the subject, 

 " I wish you would solve for me this hive ques- 

 tion. I want some more hives, and I don't 

 know whether I want 8 or 10 frames." 



I drew a sigh, and asked him to draw up to 

 me a little closer. 



"Let's see. You produce extracted honey 

 mostly, don't you? " 



"Yes, sir." 



"Well, then I would recommend the eight- 

 frame size, using two stories, one above the 

 other." 



" I am afraid I can't get brood enough in one 

 eight." 



"But"— 



Oh! I forgot that we had closed down on th« 

 large-and-small-hive question. 



