JULY 1, 1913 



Inquiries are coming in daily to the sec- 

 retary, and the success of the scheme seems 

 to be assured. It is necessary that any one 

 sending through this channel should en- 

 deavor by every means in his power to pro- 

 duce nothing but the best honey, and han- 

 dle it in the cleanest manner. No unripe 

 honey will be sent ; and it must be in granu- 

 lated form. The cases should be new and 

 clean, bound with iron, and branded on one 

 end with the initials only of the producer. 

 Tins must be new and clean, and contain 

 56 lbs. net each, and packed two in a case. 

 A sample must be sent first to the seci'etary 

 for approval, and on approval the place to 

 consign to will be mailed. It will then be 

 graded by a government expert, and stamp- 

 ed, and then shipped as soon as convenient. 

 Arrangements can be made for a cash ad- 

 vance when ready to ship, and centers other 

 than Christchurch will be established when 

 sutticient inducement offers. 



Christchurch, N. Z. 



SELLING HONEY TO RETAIL GROCERS 



BY H. W. DOERR 



Case of Honey graded and sealed with the N. F. B. 



Ass'n certificate attached. 



Taking for granted that one has the bees, 

 hives, and the necessary equipment, the 

 next important thing is the honey itself. 

 After I have the honey, the next step to 

 take is to find out its kind and quality. In 

 fact, I watch this point from the time the 

 bees begin to store a surplus until the hon- 

 ey-tlow ceases. I also keep tab on the hon- 

 ey-crop reports as given in the bee jour- 

 nals, and study tlie market quotations 

 of the newspapers with the view of deter- 

 mining what honey of the same quality as 

 mine would cost if shipped in from some 

 other locality, and also what my honey 

 would net me by shipping it to some other 

 mai-ket. 



Having fixed these two points clearly in 

 my mind I proceed to fix my price by 

 striking a mean between the import and 

 export prices. That is, I make my price 

 somewhat higher than the export price, and 

 somewhat lower than the import price, be- 

 cause exi)erience has taught me that it is 

 safe, and good business policy, to do so. 

 Right here let me say that it is of the ut- 

 most importance to have the price set on 

 your honey before you offer it for sale. 

 Otherwise the dealer will be slow in buying, 

 and he will pay you just as small a price as 

 he dares to give. 



After the question of price is settled, and 

 I have decided to put my honey on the 

 market, the next thing that I do is to give 

 some attention to my own personal appear- 

 ance. This does not mean that I put on the 

 best clothes in my possession, nor any dis- 

 l)]ay of style; but I do shave, and lay aside 

 my daily working clothes for others which 

 are neat and clean. Then I make a tour, 

 interviewing the different grocers of my 

 home town. When I step into a store where 

 the owner is not known to me I inquire for 

 the proi)rietor. Having found him, I usu- 

 ally ask him if he handles any honey. His 

 answer generally is that he has none on 

 hand at the present time. Then I ask what 

 would be the cliance of selling him a case 

 of honey to be delivered in a week or so, 

 naming my price, and stipulating that I 

 will take a part of the pay in trade. This 

 usually closes the deal for a case or more. 



If I have had a good look around the 

 store, and find no honey in sight before I 

 meet the proprietor, then I sometimes ask 

 him point blank if he has any honey to sell, 

 to which he usually says he has not. The % 

 of course, I ask what would be the chance 

 of selling him some honey, so tliat he will 

 have some to sell. If he is a free talker I 



