1917 



AMERICAN BEK JOURNAL 



303 



bottles, 6 and 12-pound jugs, but will 

 discontinue the 12-pound size, as 

 they have proven too large for this 

 trade. I give them a rebate on the 

 glass containers returned in good or- 

 der, which with some is appreciated, 

 and helps in selling more honey. 



Put out an attractive package. Peo- 

 ple will not appreciate your efforts- in 

 putting your honey in cheap contain- 

 ers in order to make it cheaper to 

 them. I have tried it, and know. Of 

 course these fancy cartons, labels 

 and glass containers all add to the 

 high cost of living, but the dear peo- 

 ple want them, and I believe in sell- 

 ing them what they want. A fellow 

 this winter asked me what I wanted 

 for a 60-pound can f honey. I told 

 him $6. How much if I furnish cans? 

 I told him 10 cents per pound. All 

 right, he said, I will bring the cans. 

 He was satisfied and so was I. 

 Cans are high. 



We should try and educate people 

 to know that honey is a food, not a 

 luxury nor a medicine, and one of 

 the cheapest foods on the market to- 

 day. "No sweeter words of tongue 

 or pen" than a delicious food with a 

 light pull on the pocketbook. I 

 bought some of the cards advertised 

 in the American Bee Journal and it 

 was a surprise to many people to 

 know that honey was so high in food 

 value. I expect to use more of them, 

 and to get some small cards printed 

 giving the food value of honey, and 

 send them out with every letter, and 

 the leaflets that the American Bee 

 Journal sends out, with every order 

 for honey. 



Always keep honey at your gro- 

 cer's, and some at the apiary. Never 

 be out of honey. This idea of think- 

 ing that we can sell honey only in the 

 winter time is all bosh. Honey may 

 be sold the whole year through, not 

 as much in summer as in winter, of 

 course, but every pound of honey 

 consumed in the summer is ofT the 

 market when the rush season comes. 

 Let us sell all the honey we can, di- 

 rect to the consumer, and in our local 

 markets, and keep it out of the big 

 markets where there is nearly always 

 an over-supply, and consequently low 

 prices. It will go a long way towards 

 equalizing matters, and the markets, 

 and beekeepers in general, will profit 

 by so doing. 



The peddling business is an old 

 topic, but should be followed more 

 than it is, and I often wish I might 

 find time to follow it. I have peddled 

 honey but little, so cannot say much 

 on that subject. The first half day I 

 sold 400 pounds, and the second 

 something like 300 pounds. This 

 taught me how easy it is to sell peo- 

 ple honey when brought to their 

 doors, when these same people who 

 meet you once or twice a week never 

 thought of asking anything about 

 honey. Not exactly a staple article 

 as yet. you see. 



The bulk of my honey goes to the 

 mail order trade. Out of the 24,000 

 pounds produced in the past two 

 years, all has gone to this trade and 

 the home trade, with the exception 

 of about 4,000 pounds that went to 

 other beekeepers who either had no 



crop or were sold out. This part of 

 the selling business is hard to de- 

 scribe, as a great many things have 

 to be reckoned with, and some of 

 them will have to be learned by ex- 

 perience. F)Ut first we must get in 

 touch with people who buy honey; 

 there is but one way I know to get 

 them, and that is by the use of 

 printer's ink. Care must be exer- 

 cised in its use, however, or you will 

 part with some good money and get 

 little in return. 



One should go slowly at first and feel 

 his way. Do not advertise where 

 much honey is produced, because 

 there are beekeepers in that com- 

 munity who are probably looking af- 

 ter the business. You must also con- 

 sider freight rates; if you don't your 

 prospective customer will. There are 

 exceptions to this rule, but they are 

 not to be relied upon. I shipped 

 to Massachusetts and Vermont, 

 where the freight on a 60-pound can 

 was $1.16, and, strange to say, I had a 

 repeat order. 



FIG. 6.— CREAM COLORED GOLDENROD. 



(SOLIDAGO BICOLOR.) 



(Photograph by Lovell.) 



Pardon me for making the asser- 

 tion, but it requires some tact to suc- 

 cessfully conduct a mail order trade. 

 Much depends on the individual. 

 There are some amusing things con- 

 nected with it, as well as some not 

 so amusing. One must be somewhat 

 of a judge of human nature, and in 

 most cases all you will have to judge 

 from will be a letter of inquiry. It 

 is up to you to land the order with a 

 well written letter, and perhaps a 

 sample of honey to convince the 

 prospective customer. Give every 

 customer a square deal and have the 

 same price to all. 



Sell quality honey. In fact, it is 

 the only honey that will hold your 

 customers. It is the "tie that binds." 

 Put it up in neat packages, in such 

 a way that it will reach the cus- 

 tomer in good order. If there is 

 anything that will disgust a cus- 

 tomer it is a dauby mess of honey, 

 and if he happens to be a new one it 



will likely be the last order you will 

 get from him. 



Give references, then demand cash 

 with order, and stick to it. You will 

 save money and much worry. Re- 

 member you are dealing, in most 

 cases, with strangers of whom you 

 know nothing. Honor your father 

 and mother, but not strangers' prom- 

 ises. 



When you once find a good locality 

 in which to sell honey, stick to it. Do 

 not jump from one place to another 

 unless you are not getting results, 

 and remember you can't work up a 

 mail order trade in a day. 



Center Junction, Iowa. 



Amateur Wax Rendering 



Hy G. C. Greiner. 



IN the last January number of the 

 Schweizerische Bienen Zeitung 

 two Schweizer brothers give their 

 method of draining, washing, render- 

 mg into wax, etc., of cappings from 

 extracting combs, which is in many 

 points identical with my way of wax- 

 making. The main points on which 

 we may difler is the difference in the 

 tools we use. One brother in par- 

 ticular is describing a method which 

 IS primitive in the extreme. He says 

 he makes two "rosts" (wooden grates 

 or frames) and uses an openly woven 

 bag, which he fills with the drained 

 cappings to be rendered. He places 

 one of the "rosts" on the bottom of 

 the vessel, onto this the bag of cap- 

 pings and onto this again the second 

 rost. The whole he weights down 

 with stones or pieces of iron, fills the 

 vessel to within one or two inches of 

 the top with water and boils it about 

 one-half hour, and when cooled takes 

 off a nice yellow cake of wax. This, 

 of course, is only one-half of the job. 

 After the cake of wax is taken off he 

 has to fish out the weights, then the 

 rost, then the bag that has to be 

 emptied and cleaned, and at last the 



FIG. 7.— EARLY GOLDENROD (SOLIDAGO 

 TUNCEA.) (Photograph by Lovell.) 



