450 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



for the trade. All the time my thoughts 

 were to cater to the trade, leaving the price 

 to take care of itself, if I created the de- 

 mand. As a result, for the past few sea- 

 sons our honey has been sold up a year in 

 advance, and for three years we have not 

 had honey to retail from our own stoi'e. 



SHIPPING SMALL AMOUNTS OF COMB HONEY, 



FROM A FEW SECTIONS TO A FEW 



THOUSANDS. 



I use a common candy-pail, which is 

 charged up to the customer. He can al- 

 ways sell the empty pail or return it foi" 

 credit. The pails can be procured in any 

 size. I use one 11 inches deep and 12% 

 inches across the top, inside measurement. 

 It holds thirteen 4x5 sections in the bottom 

 layer and fifteen in the top, twenty-eight in 

 all 



To pack the pails, twist some clean white 

 pajDer into ropes and crowd between the 

 inside of the pail and the sections. Care 

 must be taken not to crowd the face of any 

 section. However, no one but a careless 

 packer can do this, as the wood comes near- 

 est to the pail at all points. Crumple more 

 paper and fill the top of the iiail and placs 



Wooden candy-pail for shipping comlj lioney. A ship- 

 ping case that is proof against honey breakage. 



the cover on. There are two small wires 

 that bend over the cover. Put a common 

 nail in the loop, twist the wires together, 

 and the pail is sealed better than any nails 

 could do it. The pails are all painted white. 



and marked on the top "Comb honey. With 

 Care." Braided cornhusks would be even 

 better than paper, and would add to the 

 appearance. 



The sections should be honest, even weight 

 and color. No section should weigh less 

 than 131/2 ounces. (The first two seasons 

 1 shipped nothing under 141/2 ounces.) 

 They must be perfect, and No. 1 in forma- 

 tion and capping. Then cjuote by the sec- 

 tion and seek in a city for a customer who 

 can use all you produce. Employ all your 

 spare time improving the appearance of 

 the section so it will sell, and orders will 

 be repeated. I would not care for a cus- 

 tomer wlio did not repeat. You are the pro- 

 ducer. You make the package attractive, 

 and the price will take care of itself. If a 

 customer does not repeat, it is your fault 

 and not his. He has to have the honey to 

 sell, and you must create the demand for 

 i/our honey. 



I have been in my store for thirty years, 

 and I know the kind of goods that sell. 

 When a lady sees a new-style package of 

 food, and is shown that the package is fly 

 and dirt proof, she is always interested and 

 expects me to talk ujj the goods. She is 

 attracted as much by the package as by the 

 contents. Nearly always I make the sale, 

 and the next day I have calls from her 

 neighbors for the same article. 



Each section should be wrapped in trans- 

 parent paper, and tied with a strand of 

 bright-colored silk. I think the coming sea- 

 son will see all my sections tied with a 

 ribbon similar to " baby " ribbon. Our 

 honey crops are sold a year in advance. 

 For three winters we have not had honey 

 to retail at home, and to-day we have none 

 for our own use. 



We have been shij^ping in these pails for 

 about seven seasons, and have yet to get the 

 first report of contents received in bad 

 order. We have taken particular pains to 

 ask exjjress agents at destinations to exam- 

 ine shijmients, and all have reported best 

 of condition. No pail has ever been return- 

 ed to us with a stain or mark of a broken 

 section. In fact, one can safely guarantee 

 that honey packed in this way will arrive in 

 a satisfactory condition. The secret is in 

 the shape of the package, since one can not 

 be set flat down, but always sti-ikes the edge 

 and has a rolling motion. 



We have customers in several towns and 

 cities who sell from a few hundred to a 

 thousand sections to whom we have had to 

 return their extra orders unfilled. Fre- 

 c|uently strangers come into the store and 

 make the remark. "Oh! this is where the 

 honey comes from, tied with a silk thi-ead." 

 So we see that the smallest detail, the silk 



