June, 1915. 



American Vae Journal 



ject has been much discussed, but is not 

 yet settled. I had hoped to get light 

 upon it during our voyage. I failed. 

 An article from Dr. Planta, in the 

 Revue Internationale, in 188-5, is the 

 only thing that throws a partial light 

 upon it. It needs further investigation. 



Marseille has a very pleasant climate, 

 though less sunny than that of the 

 Riviera, from Nice to Spezia. It rarely 

 freezes there, and the bees sometimes 

 gather honey as late as December, I 

 was told. However, the winter of 

 1913 14 has been an exception, and a 

 picture of "Marseille Under the Snow," 

 dated Jan. 14, li)14, was forwarded to us 

 later. 



We were to be back from the coun- 

 try trip at 5:30 p.m., as one of the api- 

 arists, Dr. Vallette, had kindly offered 

 to take us in his automobile to a sea- 

 shore ride, around the " Corniche," but 

 what with the bee-talks, hive opening, 

 photo taking, and the trolley delays, 

 we were not back until late, and our 

 sea-shore ride was taken mostly in the 

 dark. I must not forget that we also, 

 during the forenoon, visited Notre- 

 Dame-De-La-Garde. This is a church 

 on a very high cliff above the city. The 

 bird's-eye view of that large city of 

 half a million souls, the port, the ves- 



sels, the islands and the Mediterranean 

 sea, will long be remembered by us. 



I cannot close this letter without 

 mentioning the courtesy of the presi- 

 dent of the association and of his lady, 

 Mr. and Mrs. Sirvent, who invited us 

 to come again and made us the promise 

 of a gathering together of luO bee- 

 keepers at our next visit. We would 

 like to say something about each of 

 the kind friends who welcomed us. To 

 show them we have not forgotten them 

 we will send each of them a copy of 

 this number. 



On the morning of a delightful day, 

 Sept. 26, we made the longest trip of 

 our European travels. We crossed 

 southern France from east to west, 

 mainly among vineyards. We passed 

 Tarascon, famous from Daudet's Tar- 

 tarin ; Beaucaire, a village whose name 

 is as familiar to French children as 

 that of Yankee Doodle to American 

 children; Nimes, noted for its old 

 Roman arena; Narbonne, listed on the 

 Baedecker guide for its " miel fameux " 

 famed honey, harvested, we are told, 

 from sainfoin : Carcassonne, the city 

 of -54 towers, and at 0:30 p.m., we 

 reached the little city of Lavardac, 

 where Mr. Cout rel, one of the great 

 honey producers of France, was await- 

 ing lis at the station. 



Contributed 



Articles^ 



Advertising 



BY A. F. BONNEY. 



IN a recent mail I received a letter, 

 asking if I thought the beekeepers 

 of the United States could get a 

 department in the " Patent Insides " of 

 rural newspapers and thereby advertise 

 honey. At the same time I was asked 

 for any other suggestion regarding 

 advertising honey. I had to say no to 

 the first question, and I asked the 

 writer something like this: 



" If the present demand for honey in 

 the United States is about 2-5 cents per 

 capita, and the present supply about 10 

 cents per capita, how much can we 

 afford to pay out for advertising to in- 

 crease the demand 1.5 cents per capita ?" 



I left him to answer, but thought to 

 myself that there .sccw.s- to be an excess 

 supply of 1-5 cents worth of honey in 

 this country; that is, IT) cents worth 

 per capita, and I said to myself, "A 

 sur/'//is is the hardest thing in the 

 world to sell by advertising." 



I gave the beekeeping world the Lit 

 tie Red Sticker , and our State inspector 

 writes me that I would be surprised 

 how general they are in use. "I sec 

 them everywhere ;" he flattered and 

 pleased me. 



Bui I could not help remembering 

 that some mighty smart beekeepers 

 did not seem to grasp my idea of using 

 the Red Stickers. Even Mr. Byer did 

 not catch on, for I remember he said 

 it would not pay him to use them, as 

 he "had no honey to sell." 



Again I want to call attention to the 

 Little Red Sticker, and explain. It was 



gotten up for na/tona/ honey advertis- 

 ing. It WIS conceived for the benefit 

 of every beekeeper in //ic n-or/c/, for if 



EAT HONEY 



were put on every letter sent out from 

 the offices and homes of beekeepers, 

 put on railway coaches, freight cars, 

 depot windows — never mind what the 

 agent says — on farmers' wagons and 

 store windows, and send a few to 

 friends and relatives, asking them to 

 stick them up, it would not be long be- 

 fore we would begin to make an im- 

 pression. One thousand of the Little 

 Red Stickers to each 1000 beekeepers 

 means a million stickers, at the funny 

 little noise of 35 cents per man. 



Now it is well known that five people 

 read each newspaper. One thousand 

 newspapers would, therefore, be read by 

 5000 persons, /tu/ not one person in ten 

 would read a one-inch honey ad. 

 Therefore, the number of readers is at 

 once cut down to 500 persons. 



In the case of the Little Red Stickers, 

 10, 20, even a hundred persons will read 

 each one stuck up in public places. 

 One hundred thousand readers for 

 each thousand red stickers put up is 

 not too large an estimate, because each 

 one in place has a long lease of life, 

 while the newspaper is old in a week, 

 for a country paper, and in a day for a 

 city daily. 



Be sociable. Buy at least 1000 Little 



Red Stickers and put them up. Others 

 will be doing it for you, and I't zvi7/ /ay. 

 Now, while the red stickers are all 

 right for nationa/ and world-wide ad- 

 vertising it is not the local thing we 

 want. That is the complaint I have 

 had. in scores of letters. Therefore, 

 I offer you the result of my later study, 

 as follows : 



EAT BONNEY 

 HONEY 



Let this, like the Little Red Stickers, 

 be in red ink, and while I first used 

 "Bonney Honey" on account of the 

 rhythm, I had decided that Jones 

 honey or Dadant honey, or even Kat- 

 zenhammer honey is just as good a 

 name as Bonney honey A"' your indi- 

 vidual locality and usr. You need noth- 

 ing more there, and for 20 or 40 miles 

 around, but when you begin to branch 

 out add your name and address. I have 

 before me as I write, a letter from the 

 editor of the Policeman's Monthly, a 

 magazine published in New York city, 

 and in it he says : " I have read so 

 much about Bonney honey that I feel I 

 must taste it. Would it be possible to 

 send a jar to me, a quart or so, and 

 enclose bill for sa lie ?" He had seen 



EAT BONNEY 

 HONEY 



stamped on the envelopes I used in 

 which to send stories to the publication. 

 I have received orders from mail 

 clerks, and they came addressed. 



EAT BONNEY 

 HONEY 



Buck Grove, Iowa." 



This is a good, cheap, efficient and 

 persistent form of advertising. You 

 may think possibly that a constant 

 reading by the people around you of .-■ 

 red sticker will not have the desired 

 effect. Perhaps they will not call you 

 out of bed at 2:00 a.m. to tell you they 

 saw one, but, like myself, you will find 

 it the constant advertising drop that 

 wears away the stone. 



As to the cost, the initial expense 

 will be about $2.00 for drawing and 

 zinc etching, and a matter of 25 to 35 

 cents each for electrotyes. Say $3.00 

 to $5.00 for the first thousand. After 

 that they can be printed and gummed 

 for about 40 to 50 cents a thousand. In 

 addition you have the electrotypes to 

 use on letter heads and other things. 

 Were I producing section honey I'd 

 have every section printed 



EAT BONNEY 

 HONEY 



This could be done with a rubber 

 stamp in carmine ink, or on one side 



