GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



SELLING HONEY FROM HOUSE TO HOUSE 



BY A. L. BEAL 



To my miiul the most delightful thing 

 about the whole bee business is to sit and 

 watch the bees work when there is a good 

 honey-tiow. For tired nerves and a fagged- 

 out brain there is notliing better. It is an 

 inspiration to any one. A few days of 

 watching the bees Avill put even a person of 

 poor health in a good condition for " mar- 

 keting honey," which is the next most de- 

 lightful thing in bee work, and almost as 

 healthful as watching the bees. I have 

 never found more than one discouraging- 

 feature in marketing the honey; and that 

 is, it is so soon sold, and so many people 

 are yet wanting honey. The oddest thing 

 about it is, the more you sell, the more 

 people will be wanting it when you have 

 sold out. 



I believe tliat I know exactly how the 

 ordinary beekeeper can market his honey, 

 and at a fair price. I have had several 

 years of experience in selling produce di- 

 rect to the consumer, and I never represent 

 what I have to sell as having cjualities which 

 it does not have. I always try to avoid 

 exorbitant prices, and to be strictly con- 

 scientious in every thing, and so when I 

 commenced selling honey two years ago I 

 had no trouble at all. 



Get some Mason glass fruit-cans, pint 

 and quart size. Fill them nearly full of 

 comb honey, and pour in liquid honey until 

 the pint weighs IVi lbs., and the quart 2V2 

 lbs. Be sure to have the cans full. A little 

 practice will enable you to know just the 

 proportions of comb and liquid honey to 

 put in so the can may be full and of the 

 proper weight. Then take a few more cans 

 of each size, and fill them with liquid honey. 

 They should contain by weight, pints, 11/2 

 lb. ; quarts, 3 lbs. If you have a few pound 

 sections that weigh 12 or 14 oz., get some 

 of those too. 



Load all these in your rig and start for 

 town. Any town will do, but the bigger 

 the better. " Stop at the first house, and take 

 as large a can of the bulk comb honey as 

 you have on the wagon. Holding up your 

 can, say, " Good morning. Mrs. A. Are 

 you a lover of good honey — honey that /s 

 "honey — real old-fashioned bee honey f" 



Keep holding up the can, and change its 

 position and keep talking. Rut do not talk 

 all day. Let her ask tlie price. Then you 

 can tell her it is 20 cts. per lb., and 2^/2 lbs. 

 in a can. Be sure to say it that way. If 

 you have ever been an agent you l^ave 

 learned the great power in certain combina- 

 tions of words. Never use the term " h.alf 



a dollar." Well, it may be that Mrs. A 

 is not fond of honey — doesn't know how 

 good it is, and doesn't wish to buy. Then 

 leave as politely as you can. Do not urge 

 her to buy. Before your next visit to town 

 she may have heard how good it is, and be 

 watching for you. 



]\Irs. B is quite fond of honey, but has 

 only 25 cts. about the house. Sell her a 

 small can. Get your can back or an empty 

 one in its place. 



Mrs. C doesn't like comb at all, but would 

 be " awfully glad " to get some " strained " 

 honey. Sell her two cans — quarts, of course 

 — and take the pint on to Mrs. D, Avho is 

 short on change. 



Mrs. E always gets it in " these little 

 boxes." Sell her a light weight for 20 cts. ; 

 and so on down the line to X Y Z if your 

 honey holds out. 



Tell them all you will be back, and don't 

 forget to go back, for most of them will 

 eat all the honey long before the appointed 

 dav. 



Westfield, Ind. 



ADVERTISING PAYS 



A Producer who has Spent Several Thousand Dol- 

 lars in the Past Four Years in Advertising 



BY R. M. SPENCER 



"What would it mean to all the beekeepers 

 of the United States if the price of their 

 honey should be raised 1 ct. per lb."? It 

 would mean thousands of dollars, and, in 

 many cases, put the bee business on a more 

 profitable basis. Many will say the supply 

 and demand regulate the price. This no 

 doubt is true; but it does not mean that we 

 can not increase the demand. This can be 

 done by producing a first-class article and 

 creating a demand by advertising. 



To obtain these higher ijrices, all apiarists 

 should endeavor to produce a better and 

 riper grade of honey that has the (juality 

 behind it to bring the repeated orders from 

 their customers. 



All honey of the best quality and grades 

 should be advertised under a trademark, 

 thei'eljy giving it a name for the customer 

 to remember and order by. As long as the 

 quality is held up, the business would about 

 double each year. 



I h.ave spent several thousand dollars in 

 advertising honey in the last four years, 

 and know by experience that the orders will 

 double each year from the same territory. 

 Mrs. Jones orders a case of twelve 10-lb. 

 cans of my best honey. She sells one can 

 of it to Mrs. Brown and various other 

 women ; and if the goods are all right these 

 n. iyb.bois are sure to want some of it. 



