1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



183 



years' experience I can clearly see the causes of his 

 partial failure, but will not occupy space to de- 

 scribe them here. James Heddon. 

 Dowagiac, Mich. 



PEDDLING HONEY TO FARMERS. 



EXCELLENT HINTS IN KECJAKU TO. 



j^EADlNG Mr. J. B. Colton's article on pag-e 93 



EJ prompts me to g-ive my experience in ped- 



^El dling' and disposing- of honey. I have found 



\ * home market for my whole honey crop of 



8000 lbs., with the exception of a few special 



ordei'S fi'om a distance, at an averag:e of 8 cts. per 



pound. 



In finding a home market, it seems to me a great 

 mistake is made in taking it to the towns. There 

 is always plenty of honey in town, but a dearth of 

 it in the surrounding country. It is also a mistake 

 to put it in the stores, to be sold on commission. 

 The retail price is higher than consumers like to 

 pay, and this pre%'ent8 people from eating honey, 

 except as a luxury. I have worked up a splendid 

 home trade among the farmers, and find that they 

 are the best customers. I left no honey in stores, 

 to be sold on commission, neither would I advise 

 any one else to do so. My honey is all extracted; 

 and in selling it I am always very careful to tell 

 the purchaser whether it be of the 1st, 2d, or 3d 

 quality. There are as many grades of honey as of 

 sugar, and one great mistake is made in selling 

 for a flrst-class article that which really is not, 

 therebj' taking advantage of people's ignorance, 

 and driving a sharp bai-gain, perhaps. 



First class extracted compares favorably with 

 comb honey of the same kiiid in flavor; but if it be 

 of the first extracting, and some old honey is mix- 

 ed with It, the flavor is changed, and some one, no 

 doubt, will compare it with the comb honey, and 

 then declare there is something wrong, and won't 

 buj' any more of it. The producer should know 

 better than any one else the quality of his honey, 

 and it is imperative that he represent it exactly as 

 it is. He will gain the confidence of his customers, 

 and lose nothing by it. As a rule, the majority of 

 people will not go to anj' place to buy honey; but 

 if it is brought to their doors, and thej- are allow- 

 ed to sample it, they will buy much more readily. 

 I have found peddling in town up-hill business. 

 Among tlie well-to-do farmers, I have sold the bulk 

 of my honey in 25 and .50 lb. lots, at 8 cts. per lb., 

 and for smaller sales, 9 cts. As an instance, I sold, 

 in six consecutive houses, 80, 25, 53, 40, 25, and 37 

 lbs., or 260 lbs. in all— all I had with me, and 1 have 

 frequently sold a barrel in half a day. Next year I 

 intend to sell all I raise, more easily than I have 

 this. 



For actual use in the family, 1 sold to one, 180 

 lbs.; another. U5 lbs.; and to quite a number, 100 

 lbs. Had I sold it at 10 cts., 1 could not have dis- 

 posed of much; but at 8 cts. it is used instead of 

 syrups. 



Now as to delivery. In the fall I loaded a barrel 

 on a spring wagon, and, using a honey-gate, I drew 

 it off in any convenient vessel in the winter. The 

 honey was taken out of the .50-gallon storage-bar- 

 rels, and warmed so as to take out the granulation, 

 then drawn otf into .50-lb. kegs for convenience. 

 This winter, most of it was sold in the keg, the keg 

 being reserved for next Beason's use. 



By way of caution, let me say, do not sell granu- 

 lated honey except to old customers. Better make 

 a warming-pan of galvanized iron that will cover 

 the entire top of a stove or arch, and warm it 

 over. If it is tfeen drawn into kegs or other ves- 

 sels, and made air-tight, it will keep a long time 

 without granulating, and can be disposed of to 

 mucli better advantage. 



A great many people think that candied honey 

 has glucose in it, and it is almost impossible to 

 overcome that idea. Always be sure to tell them 

 that it will candy, and also to keep it out of the 

 cellar. Roland Sherburne. 



Lone Tree, la., Feb. 14, 1887. 



PEDDLING HONEY A SUCCESS. 



HOW THE BROWN-EYED BETTER HALF BEAT THE 

 OTHER HALF. 



JTp FTEK reading friend Colton's ai-ticle on page 

 9l\^ 93 I feel like giving my experience on ped- 

 jP!? ling honey. By consulting our book I find 

 "^^ we have produced and sold, during the past 

 few seasons, about 12,000 lbs. of extracted 

 honey. Our honey is all put in 58-lb. kegs, which 

 have been waxed. After getting it all in kegs, and 

 before it gets thick, we do our peddling. With 

 horses and buggy and large bottles we go out 

 through the country and stop at every farmer's 

 house that we consider sure pay. and let them taste 

 our finest clover honey, stating that we have it in 

 kegs just the right size tor family use, and that we 

 will deliver the next day. Now he will say he has 

 no money at present. Our reply always is, that it 

 makes no difference at all about that, he can pay 

 when he pleases, which most of the time will be 

 ne.xt daj\ The next day we deliver the honey sold 

 the day before. The kegs are all labeled with our 

 name and candying notice. 



Now, to give you an idea how fast honejcan be 

 sold in this way, 1 will say that, on my first trip, I 

 sold in one afternoon tJO gallons. "Ah!" 1 think I 

 hear you say, " there can't be much honey in your 

 neighborhood," Well, 1 have Just ascertained that 

 there has been no less than 80,000 lbs. produced 

 during the past season by nine bee-keepers within 

 eight miles of us. Now don't say that I am an 

 expert peddler, for that brown-eyed woman whom 

 Belle and Charley call " ma " took it in her head to 

 see what she could do this fall, and she drove her 

 own team, and sold, in one short afternoon, eight 

 .58-lh. kegs, averaging over one keg an hour; and I 

 was told next day, while delivering, that I was 

 nowhere, compared with my "better half." 



In conclusion I would say, put your honey in 

 kegs well waxed; never charge for kegs, but get 

 them back when you can; don't scold or look cross 

 if kegs or hoops are lost. Never deliver the honey 

 while selling, as you will not sell more than half hs 

 much, as you will find by trying; don't peddle in 

 towns, except by the keg; don't think, because you 

 go over a route this year it will do for next year; 

 never change the price during the season, if you 

 can avoid it; but if you should find it necessary to 

 lower your price, promptly notify all who have 

 bought of yow by the keg that you have placed the 

 difference to their credit. Our 4000 lbs. of this sea- 

 son is all sold, and we have had several calls for 

 more. Now, Mr. Root, I can not help but think 

 that, if all our bee-men who can would do this way. 



