SciituiiilHT, igio. 



American Hee JonrnaJj 



All thai is said of the farmer may be said 

 ■ <i ilu- ai>iarist. mily more so. The bee- 

 keeper of 1860 was almost iini\*crsally ignorant 

 of the anatomy of the bee. There were only 

 a few huiidreti practical hce-ki-ejHjrs in the 

 United States. Kven 40 years ago the pro- 

 portion of those who had tried movable-frame 

 hives was very small. Tin stct ion-box did 

 not exist. There was no such product as 

 iDnih tpundation. and the honey-extractor 

 was known to only a few. .Most of the 

 honey sold then was "strained,"' Now, nearly 

 every bee-keeper has learned the elementary 

 principKs of bee-culture; tlie moth has no ter- 

 rors tor him; an<l he is beginning to under- 

 •itand hnw to jjit rid of foul brood. It 

 seems to me that a comparison of the bee- 

 papers and the farm journals of the present 

 with those of former times would give one a 

 very good idea of whether there is progress 

 or not. As to bee-papers, thvre were none in 

 this ciuniiiy .'>0 years ajio, except the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal which was in its first year. 



Why do our boys leave the farm? This 

 was ;i )>rt.>i>ir <|utsrnin li> yt-ars ago. It is not 

 a proper one to-day. The boys are not leav- 

 ing the farm, if they are treated right by 

 the "old man" on the farm. Until lately, 

 hie »>n the farm had no attraction whatever, 

 ;ind if a boy wished to make his way, he had 

 no alternative — he must leave the farm. There 

 are many old farmers yet to-day who do not 

 believe that the modern inventions and dis- 

 coveries are meant for them. They cannot 

 see anything in steam-heated homes, bath- 

 rooms, labor-saving kitchens, electricity, water 

 on each floor, etc. Yet in many cases they 

 could afford these things, and hold the boys 

 to the freedom of farm life. Today, I sec 

 young men who have learned a good profes- 

 sion go back to the farm, for its health, 

 its freedom, its chances of gain without be- 

 ing subject to the strenuous life of the 

 crowded office-building. 



There are many farms which do not pay, 

 it is true, but those are either rented or run 

 iiy i'rncurators. The intelligent, practical farm- 

 er who lives upon his farm, raises profitable 

 live stock, rotates his crops, secures a posi- 

 tive income, though less copious than that of 

 the wholesale merchant or the banker. 



I believe, Mr. Editor, that your correspond- 

 ent is right as to the desirability of reraovinj; 

 handicaps against securing as good help as 

 possible for agriculture or any other indus- 

 try. Many people believe in protection. Yet 

 they would dislike to see protection between 

 one State and another. They would object 

 to a custom-house between Illinois and Iowa, 

 or between those States and Missouri. But 

 if the South had succeeded in seceding from 

 the Union in the sixties, there would have 

 been a custom-house established between those 

 veo* States, since Missouri was one o f the 

 Confederacy. The old Mississippi, the beau- 

 tiiul rivt-r. almost the largest in the world, 

 would have been cut in two and made into 

 a pond without issue. And this would be 

 called "Protection!" 



Protect us against our own narrowness! L,et 

 us be free. And if the sons of Europe who 

 lave com-,' here during the past 200 years 

 have helped America to grow and become 

 what she is to-day, let us not stop the in- 

 coming of more sons of Europe. We want 

 them, their knowledge, their ideas, the choice 

 of their methods. What has made America 

 great is the mixture of ideas, of methods, of 

 learning, brought by every tongue from north- 

 ern or southern climes. In the most demo- 

 cratic manner, we have accepted the good, no 

 matter whence it came. Let us continue to 

 do so. C. P. DAD.^NT. 



Hamilton, 111. 



[We hope, after reading Mr. Da- 

 dant's letter, Mr. Stull will take cour- 

 age, renew his subscription to the 

 .\tnerican Bee Journal for some years 

 in advance, take a new grip on things 

 agricultural, and try to be as happy 

 and prosperous as possible, no matter 

 what the circumstances may be. — Edi- 

 tor.] 



.^^^*-^ 



Pointers on Selling Honey 



BY WESLEY FOSTER. 



I'rom the very first of my honey-sell- 

 ing experience, when I, a boy, would 

 carry a lialf-dozcn sections of honey in 



a home-made carrier I'ruin ilnor tn 

 door, 1 have felt the importance of the 

 introductory impression on the one I 

 am trying to interest in my honey. If 

 I cannot make a favorable impression 

 right at the start, so as to command 

 the undivided attention of the person 

 licfore me, there is a small chance of 

 getting that person interested in what 

 I am trying to show him. This is why 

 all instructions to salesmen given out 

 l)y large firms emphasize the importance 

 of neatness in dress and person. The 

 importance of this is well known to 

 salesmen, for rarely is one seen who is 

 not above tlie average in personal ap- 

 pearance. 



Then, the next innportant point to be 

 remembered is always togreetthepros- 

 pective customer in a gracious, cheer- 

 ful way. This is just as important for 

 all our dealings with people, but you 

 might say that the bread of the sales- 

 man depends upon his being good-na- 

 tured. And if we cannot succeed with- 

 out being kind and gracious, most of 

 us will make some effort to be this kind 

 of a person. In fact, I have known a 

 good many men who have improved 

 their dispositions very much by ac- 

 quiring the habit of smiling and look- 

 ing pleasant while at the work of sell- 

 ing goods, and after the habit was for- 

 med, it permeated their whole life. 

 One cannot get attention without creat- 

 ing a favorable impression, and a neat 

 person and a sunny disposition go far- 

 ther toward doing this than any other 

 two things I know. 



When entering a grocery with the in 

 tention of selling honey, if I have not 

 learned the name of the proprietor or 

 buyer, (which I always try to do,) I ask 

 one of the clerks what the proprietor's 

 name is, and whether he is busy. If he 

 is busy I wait fill he is at leisure, or 

 leave, and come back a little later 

 When later I get a chance to speak 

 with him, I walk up to him and say : "J 

 am Mr. Foster, are you Mr. Blank?' 

 or, "I am glad to meet you, Mr. Blank 

 I have a proposition that is to your 

 great interest to see. The line is a 

 ready seller, giving you a profit of 25 

 to so percent, and is one that reflects 

 credit on the class of trade that comes 

 to you. There is no chance of loss, 

 for the goods are not perishable, and 

 if they are not sold within a reason- 

 able time we take them back and re- 

 fund your money. May I not have a 

 few minutes of your careful attention 

 to look at what I have, and explain 

 the proposition to you. My line is 

 a choice grade of comb and bottled 

 honey, put up with a biYiding guaran- 

 tee of purity and highest quality. 

 You see, the firm I work for have a 

 reputation for honesty and integrity, 

 and whatever dealings our house has 

 will be satisfactory to you.'' 



By telling Mr. Blank quite a little 

 about my proposition, without let- 

 ing him know what the line is, arouses 

 his curiosity to see it, and when I 

 ask him at the end of a little 

 speech of, this kind I rarely am re- 

 fused a chance to explain my whole 

 matter. 



When he has consented to look my 

 line over, T ask him where there is a 



place on the counter that I can dis- 

 play my samples. I generally look 

 toward the back of the store or other 

 place where he will not be disturbed, 

 for it is necessary that my prospect- 

 ive customer should have a chance to 

 think clearly, and thoroughly under- 

 stand all the good points about my 

 articles. He should, and if a good 

 niercliant, he will, be able to pick out 

 from my samples certain sizes and 

 grades that Mil sell well in his ter- 

 ritory. This is a valuable point — get- 

 ting the prospective customer to 

 pick out the things he likes, and to 

 assent to the desirable qualities as I 

 pick them out. 



I turn a bottle over in my hand, 

 and hold it so the light falls on the 

 l>uhl)lc of air rising, balloon-shaped, 

 through the honey, and say, "See 

 that? Isn't that honey pretty? And 

 see how thick the honey is!" I call 

 attention to many of the desirable 

 points, expecting the prospective buy.- 

 er Tiefore me to assent to their cor- 

 rectness. He will, without doubt, 

 notice some things of worth to the 

 .goods that I have forgotten. 



When I have the careful attention 

 of a man it is not a hard matter to 

 sell him some honey, if he can't use 

 it all. Men do not need to be con- 

 vinced against their wills. If they 

 are convinced against their wills the 

 chances are that the order will be 

 cancelled before the bill of goods is 

 shipped. If the whole proposition is 

 not clear and plain, it would better be 

 gone over again, and everything made 

 plain as daylight. Small, simple 

 words are always best, for some of 

 us are not overly bright, and I'll con- 

 fess that I have turned salesmen 

 down because they were using such 

 big, technical words that I did not 

 understand their proposition, and was 

 too proud to admit it. 



Enthusiasm, knowledge of the ar- 

 ticle, honesty and simplicity of state- 

 ments, will make it possible for many 

 of us to succeed in selling honey. 



Boulder. Colo. 



Under 10 Percent Swarms 



BY D. M. MACDONALD. 



"There's a tide in the affairs of men, 

 which taken at the flood, leads on to 

 Fortune." There is a tide in the af- 

 fairs of bees which leads to swarming. 

 Let the "flow-" touch a certain point, 

 and nothing can stem it. If we only 

 could properly guage the psychological 

 moment, we would be masters of the 

 situation, and stop it every time. It 

 appears to me that the critical period 

 centers around the time when brood- 

 congestion is nearly setting in; when 

 temperature suddenly rises, and a flow 

 sharply arrives. One of these factors 

 may not create the bacillus of swarm- 

 ing — even two may not produce the 

 fever, but a juxtaposition of all three 

 leads to the inevitable preparations, 

 which, once carried on a certain length, 

 nothing but .some providential interpo 

 sition will check. 



Timely attendance to ventilation, 

 withdrawal of some brood, or the sub- 



