THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



331 



drayaj^e, freight, etc., and the consumer 

 must foot all these bills. On the other 

 hand, the retail yjocer .seUloni buys more 

 than five or ten cases, and it is more 

 trouble to take care of so many customers 

 than the one connnission man. The ex- 

 pense of goinir over the route with sam- 

 ple case is considerable, and bad debts 

 are nearly always in evidence; but by 

 sellintj some of onr neij^hbors' honey 

 (this year I sold for six a])iaries), and di- 

 vidini,^ the expense, it brinv^'s it down to 

 reasonable limits. 



The next question was, ' How shall we 

 pack, j^ade, and advertise to best please 

 our prospective victim, the grocer?" 

 Morton and I were partners in the retail- 

 grocery business for .several years, and 

 that experience heli)ed us to some points, 

 one of the mo.st provoking of which is the 

 ea.se and certainty with which a clerk will 

 punch a big hole in one nice .section with 

 the shaqj corner of the one he is trying to 

 put back in the case. Can't we fix .some- 

 thing, some way, so that he can not do 

 that? Sure! Slip veneers (or sliced 

 separators ) between the rows of sections in 

 the shipping-case — they are good for 

 nothing else, and cost but little ( and 

 have proved a drawing card with our 

 customers). Always have new, neat shi]i- 

 ing-cases with the non-drip cleats in the 

 bottom, <?;/</ the veneers. So our grocer 

 now has his case to retail from that is 

 neat, tastv, handv, and convenient. 



' Oh call it fifteen cents; " and then I 

 wonder if my customer got cheated out 

 of a fraction of a penny or whether I did. 

 Then that last half-dozen unsalable sec- 

 tions, sure to show up where they pack 

 all weights and styles in one case! The 

 grocer's profits are right in that half-doz- 

 en. As the days go by, and the du.st .set- 

 tles on them more and more, with more 

 holes ])unched in them as they are hand- 

 led over, the ]:)rofits grow beautifully less. 

 See ? Wh}- not do the square thing bv 

 that grocer, and put in ail nice, full, well- 

 sealecl sections, so that there will be noth- 

 ing left to drag on unsold at the last end 

 of that case; then put the culls ( that's the 

 word ) in another case by themselves, and 

 sell them at a ' cull ' price ? More than 

 that, a the sections are all alike why not 

 sell them by count to the grocer ? He is 

 sure to .sell them that wa}- to his custom- 

 ers. In that way there are no awkward 

 fractions to puzzle over. He buvs for 

 twelve. He sells for fifteen. Take vour 

 choice — the last section in the case will 

 sell as well as the first. But, you may 

 say, honey differs so much in weight, 

 color, .seahng, travel-stain, propolis-stain; 

 and ( referring to the printed grading- 

 rules ) bulged and crooked combs ( whicli 

 we don't have to contend with, for our 

 cleated separators make the bees build 

 their combs as straight as a darning-nee- 

 dle stuck in a boarfl ) that it would be an 

 impossible jol) to accomplish. 



I'HOTOCR.VI'HIC C.R.VDINC, OI' HONKN' 



Next comes the grading; and again the 

 memories of old-time grocery days ])Ut a 

 ' bee in my bf)nnet. 



■ How much do vou ask for that hon- 

 r\- ? • 



■ Eighteen cents per pound, madam. ' 

 Let's sec. Thirteen and a half ounces 



at eighteen cents ])er ]iound — uni, uni ! 

 Where did I lay tliat infernal leadpencil ? 

 um — urn I 



The engraving shows how eas}- it is in 

 actual i)ractice. I put the .six sections, 

 shown at the right on the shelf, in front 

 of me. ricking uj) a section from the 

 storage-case, a glance will generallv show 

 which grade it is. If any doubts exist, 

 hold it near to the sami)les and give the 

 lower grade the benefit of the doubt — 

 that is, after packing, the goods should 

 be better than the samples. 



