October, igro 



American l^ee Jiournal 



to a normal colony of bees by tbe in- 

 vasion oi hornets. Even moderately 

 strong colonies seem to be sufficiently 

 able to resist all attacks of these pests. 



Third, hornets have no faculties to 

 gather nectar from flowers, as have 

 honey-bees. During the honey-flow 

 not a single bee would notice exposed 

 hor^y while the hornets gathered in 

 large number to help themselves to the 

 free lunch. They were either physically 

 unable or else they have not the dispo- 

 sition to put themselves to the trouble 

 of gathering Nature's product them- 

 selves. 



La Salle, N. Y. 



2.— -Pointers on Selling Honey 



BV WEsLEV FOSTER. 



In the September number I told 

 about the value and necessity of mak- 

 ing a favorable impression. This is 

 nothing more nor less than getting the 

 confidence of the prospective customer 

 — at least enough of it so that by an 

 honest, straightforward interview one 

 can interest him in the goods and then 

 lead him forward to a desire for the 

 goods, and hold him in this state of 

 desire till he resolves to buy, and gives 

 you the order. 



There are as many different kinds of 

 people in the world as there are people, 

 and one way of approach might be ef- 

 fective, with one and repel another, so 

 it is best in starting out to sell honey, 

 or any other article, to cultivate a uni- 

 formly gracious manner, quiet dress, 

 and unobtrusive approach. There are 

 those who are won by bluster, and 

 otliers by "loud" clothes, but these 

 also may be handled by the calm, self- 

 confident man who at all times is at 

 his best. 



A point that has helped in meeting 

 people and adjusting myself to their 

 temperament is to notice the charac- 

 teristics of each, whether quick in 

 thought and grasp of ideas, or slow 

 and deliberate. One will unconsciously 

 speak more rapidly and concisely to a 

 man who displays a nervous energy 

 and shows that he wishes to get at some 

 other work. With the more deliberate 

 and the ones who wish to settle some 

 weighty question of state with you be- 

 fore proceeding to business, you will 

 do well to catch their desire for a visit, 

 and forget that you have honey to sell. 

 If we can but develop every faculty of 

 perception and discrimination we will 

 be able to judge correctly of the proper 

 and most effective manner of greeting 

 people. The unconscious manner we 

 assume with different people is gener- 

 ally the correct one, but this can be 

 greatly improved by close observation 

 ami study. 



When I go into a man's store and 

 meeting him he says that he has no 

 time to look at my honey, he may be 

 making the statement from one of a 

 number of motives. The skill of the 

 salesman is here taxed to determine 

 whether he is telling the truth or does 

 not have confidence in the salesman, 

 ur merely does not want to buy any 

 goods. The man who believes every- 

 thing that store-keepers tell him will 

 not make the success in selling that the 

 man will who knows human nature 

 better, and realizes that men are verv 



prone to give the wrong reason. They 

 will say that they have a good stock 

 on hand when they have none, and 

 really mean that their profits are not 

 satisfactory, and so have to limit their 

 buying. I have been told by the pros- 

 pective customer that he was not in 

 the market for honey, when what he 

 wanted was a treat at the saloon across 

 the street. The great point in meeting 

 objections is to have a chance to give 

 a good, clear talk on the goods before 

 the grocer has a chance to get an ob- 

 jection in at all. Objections then can 

 be more effectively met since the mutual 

 interchange of ideas has already taken 

 place, and any objections ofTered are 

 open to clear and positive treatment by 

 the salesman. 



One need not have any lower opin- 

 ion of the men he deals with, to recog- 

 nize that they do not always say ex- 

 actly what they mean. One quite often 

 finds men who talk as if they were 

 doing a great business when the evi- 

 dences about the store do not warrant 

 it. One should not make any state- 

 ments that will cross the ideas of the 

 customer, but at the same titne if he is 

 canvassed according to the amount of 

 business your judgment says is about 

 right, the chances of getting an order 

 will be much better than if you take 

 the man's word for it, and try to sell 

 him a bill according to the size of busi- 

 ness lie represents that he does. 



The study of men and their ways of 

 thinking is worth a college education 

 if entered upon and followed up in the 

 right way. The true salesman makes 

 his trips but a round of pleasant calls 

 among friends who are glad to see him, 

 and from whom they can get the new- 

 est ideas in business and life. 



The silent objections — the ones that 

 the customer does not mention — are 

 the very ones that are most in need of 

 being met. These spring from a lack 

 of confidence in the salesman, or a 

 natural reluctance in giving the real 

 conditions of the business. Only close 

 observation and some intuitive sight 

 will aid one to know these silent objec- 

 tions, and to answer them in a gracious 

 manner. If the salesman does hit the 

 right objections and answer them be- 

 fore spoken, the chances of making a 

 sale are very much greater than where 

 they are allowed to go unanswered, 

 and in most cases spoil the sale unless 

 some other points in the talk so over- 

 shadow the importance of these silent 

 objections as to destroy their influence. 

 Salesmanship is the manner of getting 

 the customer to think of the goods as 

 the salesman himself thinks of them, 

 so it is very essential for the salesman 

 to have the utmost faith in his line and 

 be enthusiastic about it. Whatever we 

 are intensely interested in we can en- 

 thuse others about, for enthusiasm is 

 catching. Enthusiasm will, by its very 

 force, bear down many an objection 

 that otherwise might spoil a sale. 



It must, however, be tempered by 

 wisdom, for there are conditions to be 

 recognized, such as the fact that many 

 people do not care for honey, and a 

 grocer cannot be expected to do a lot 

 of educational work among his custo- 

 mers, for it is just as profitable for him 

 to sell corn syrup as honey, and the 

 chances are that it is more so. In sell- 

 ing honey one should build a i/uu/ify 



talk. Honey is to corn syrups the same 

 as wool is to shoddy in clothing, and 

 the most of this point should be made. 

 It is Nature's only sweet, just as she 

 makes it, and has been fhe sweet of 

 man for ages. 



Every grocer and dealer likes to talk 

 business conditions with every sales- 

 man, and most of them are in the habit 

 of pumping salesmen for all they are 

 worth in order to get the most reliable 

 news about trade and prices. This 

 makes the work easy for the salesman, 

 because if he can supply valuable and 

 interesting points on these subjects 

 that are vital to the store-keeper, he 

 will have a much better chance of mak- 

 ing a sale. The alert salesman will 

 easily gather the knowledge as he goes 

 along, and so will always have the 

 valuable points at his tongue's end. 



Perhaps the reason so many who sell 

 honey do not have a continuous suc- 

 cess is that they get into a rut and for- 

 get to develop and perfect the manner 

 and material of their selling talk. I 

 never favored a set speech, because it 

 is too artificial, but one should always 

 be sure to have the strongest points 

 well presented in every interview, and 

 then to bring in as many points as will 

 makethe talk spontaneousand original, 

 with no stereotyped phrases. 



For we bee-keepers nothing is more 

 telling than a talk on bees, honey and 

 honey-flora. There is scarcely a man 

 who has not at some time lived on a 

 farm, and bees are always a source of 

 interest to those who have had any- 

 thing at all to do with them. Many 

 who know nothing about bees are anx- 

 ious to know something about them, 

 and confidence can be developed 

 quicker by this method than in any 

 other way. A straight-forward bee-talk 

 will dispel the fear of adulteration 

 quicker than any method I know that a 

 bee-keeper can use. 



In all these points on interesting the 

 prospective customer in our honey it 

 really comes down to inspiring confi- 

 dence, and convincing the grocer that 

 he can make a good profit by handling 

 our goods. A positive. aflSrmative at- 

 titude, and an alertness in using points 

 that come up at the spur of the mo- 

 ment, will keep one out of the ruts that 

 so many would-be salesmen fall into. 



Salesmanship is a science of making 

 friends, and the personal development 

 one receives makes one feel that it is 

 time well spent. 



Boulder, Colo. 



An Incubator Bee-Hive 



BY LEON C. WHEELER. 



That is what my wife calls it; I call 

 it my " baby hive." It's the hive where 

 I hatch out my baby queens, so per- 

 haps either name would be appropriate. 

 Many would consider it anything but a 

 baby, however, were they to see it. 



It was built, originally, as an experi- 

 ment, carrying out the idea of many 

 bees together storing more honey in 

 proportion than a smaller number. I 

 am not sure yet that it couldn't be 

 made to pay in that capacity, if prop- 

 erly arranged for wintering. The hive 

 is built as follows : 



There are two rows of standard 

 frames with a 2-inch partition between, 



