756 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



to build up a market that is of a charac- 

 ter which every man should have — a 

 market that simply takes my word for it 

 because they think I know what honey 

 is. They never ask me if I produce the 

 honey. If they would, I would tell them 

 no. They don't ask it, because they 

 have become acquainted with me, and 

 they know when I sell them honey that 

 I know what honey is, and they take it 

 for granted that I would give them a 

 good article, or I would not bring it to 

 them at all. I have never sold a pound 

 of honey in St. Joseph (except two or 

 three times when I made a reduction on 

 the ground of friendship) for less than 

 15 cents per pound. I know people who 

 have gone around these streets begging 

 people to buy honey at 7 or 8 cents. 

 The reason I got 15 cents was because 

 I asked 15 cents, and I do not handle 

 anything else than 15-cent honey. If 

 they want honey for less than 15 cents, 

 they buy it of somebody else. If they 

 do not pay me 15 cents for it, they do 

 not get it. If the dealers who are hand- 

 ling my honey are willing to pay me 15 

 cents for it, I leave it, but if they are 

 not, I take the honey away. I always 

 sell for cash, and if they do not want to 

 pay me cash for it, I take it away, even 

 if they are worth a million dollars. That 

 is the way I do business, and that is the 

 way everybody should do. I believe it 

 can be done, and that is my experience. 

 I do not say anything about this market, 

 because others would rush in here and 

 sell all the honey and get rich. 



Mr. Richardson — My customers, as I 

 explained, don't ask about the honey. 

 When I take it to them that settles it, 

 and at wholesale I get 123^ cents per 

 pound. I don't always get the money 

 before I leave the store, because I sell 

 only to responsible parties — 123^ cents 

 for extracted to the dealers, and 15 cents 

 at retail. I have never sold a pound of 

 comb honey for less than 18 cents whole- 

 sale, and 20 cents retail. I think it is 

 right that I should give the men who 

 handle my honey the advantage in price 

 — that is, the men who handle my honey 

 in the stores. When a stranger comes 

 to my home for honey, and if I have 

 never sold him any honey before, he will 

 always ask if this honey is produced by 

 myself. If it is not it would not be 

 right for me to tell him it is. I claim if 

 it is labeled, or not, it would not be true. 

 I tell them : " Here is honey, and I 

 guarantee it in every respect equal to 

 my honey ;" so my conscience is clear, 

 and my customer is satisfied. 



Mr. Holtermann— I think the bee- 

 papers should be censured for giving the 



prices of honey they do. We in Canada 

 have wholesale 123^ cents and retail 15 

 cents for extracted, and these are the 

 prices which we get. I think there is a 

 good deal of truth in what has been said 

 here. Mr. Muth said that a man came 

 to him and got some honey, and then 

 went around and asked people if they 

 did not want some good country honey. 

 The people caught at the words " coun- 

 try honey," and the man got 15 cents 

 for his extracted honey, and by that cus- 

 tom got to have quite a good trade on it 

 simply because he supplied a good arti- 

 cle. The words "country honey" 

 pleased them, and he got a good price 

 for it. I think Mr. York's idea is a good 

 one — to get honey from elsewhere when 

 a man runs out, but get a good article 

 always, and if you cannot get a good 

 article always, do not handle it. If the 

 article used is good, we will be able to 

 build up a good trade. A man has an 

 idea if he pays a little higher price it is 

 more likely to be pure. I think it is 

 best to establish our own reputation in 

 that way. 



Dr. Miller — There has been as much 

 harm done to our market by having a 

 poor article of honey on the market as 

 by anything else. 



E. Whitcomb— While I regard the 

 home market as much the best, I don't 

 think it is a good idea for a man to force 

 his honey on the market. I have al- 

 lowed myself to be beaten once, but not 

 the second time. I have never shipped 

 any honey to commission men but once. 

 If I sell honey it is sold before it is 

 shipped. A few years ago I went West 

 and picked out a good groceryman, and 

 I said to him, "Mr. So-and-So, what 

 kind of honey are you selling?" He said 

 "California." I said, "Well, I have 

 some good honey." He replied, "We 

 can't sell your honey." I said that I 

 would like to send him some honey, and 

 I asked him if I could pick out a window 

 in his place where his customers would 

 see the honey. He said that I could, 

 and I said I would send him two or 

 three cases of honey, " But mind, it is 

 my honey, and it must be sold at my 

 prices. If you sell it you must pay for 

 it, and if it don't sell you don't have to 

 pay anything." In a few days he asked 

 for all of the honey that I had, and 

 asked how much honey I had. We have 

 no trouble in running the California 

 honey out of our locality. I find that an 

 attractive honey-package adds one-half 

 to the sale of the honey. The manner 

 in which you put it up is what sells it. 

 That is what catches the eye of the 

 buyer. Among our own buyers they 



