10 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE Nov. 15 



AS THE ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT SEES IT 



THE OPPORTUNITY FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



When the selling prices of many commodities, especially food products, 

 are noticed it must occur to bee-keepers sometimes that the retail price of 

 honey has hardly kept pace with the advances made in other goods. It will be 

 remembered that years ago such men as W. Z. Hutchinson, James Heddon, 

 and other able writers contended that comb honey could never be a staple prod- 

 uct, but always a luxury, and this seems as true to-day as ever. The price 

 realized to-day by beekeepers of the United States for their white comb honey 

 of No. 1 and fancy grades, averages, we think, about 14 cents in the East, and 

 perhaps 12 in the West, and this, we do not believe, is any more than it was 

 ten years ago. The problem is, how to get a larger net revenue for the crops 

 produced. 



SOME THINGS TO AVOID. 



Altogether too frequently we get a report of a loss sustained by a bee- 

 keeper on account of a shipment of honey which he has sent to some party 

 whom he supposed trustworthy, but regarding whom he had no definite infor- 

 mation. These reports have reached us so many times that we take this op- 

 portunity to caution our readers against sending a shipment of honey to any 

 one without definite information as to his responsibility, or cash with order. 

 The mere fact that the order may come from a dealer in bee-keepers' supplies, 

 or some bee-keeper whoso name is familiar to readers of the bee-journals, 

 should not be taken as evidence of his ability to pay for a shipment of honey. 

 We do not believe that there are many, perhaps but few, among this class who 

 would willingly defraud a bee-keeper; but so many unforeseen conditions arise 

 that make payment uncertain we are obliged to give this note of warning. A 

 small dealer in supplies handUng goods to the extent of a few hundred dollars 

 during the season may take care of his account with a manufacturer in an en- 

 tirely satisfactory manner; but when it comes to trusting him for honey, it is a 

 very different affair. He should be required to send cash with order, or give 

 references which can not be questioned. 



Another thing to avoid is the old story of marketing honey in a slipshod 

 manner. The need of putting it up in the most attractive appearance, and 

 thereby securing the best price, has been brought on so often that it seems only 

 necessary to allude to it here. It does seem too bad, however, that many bee- 

 keepers will stop just short of securing the best price, and a large part of their 

 well-earned profit by failure in the last part of their work. 



SELLING HONEY AT 25 CENTS PER SECTION. 

 While a large part of the honey crop of the United States will probably be 

 marketedlin the same channels that it now is for many years to come— that is, 

 through retail grocery stores— we believe it will be advantageous for a good 



