478 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Cavanagh's automobile ti'ailer. View from under side 



nailed all around the upiaer edge of the 

 screen framework. A light frame with gable 

 top is hinged at each end to the screen 

 frame so as to swing toward the center 

 when the top is collapsed for traveling. 

 When extracting, the ends arc he'd upiight 

 with removable braces at each corner, and 

 the cover stretched in position. It will be 

 observed that, if the ends were lunged di- 

 rectly to the trailer deck, instead of to a 

 two-foot stationary frame, there would not 

 be room for the top to be folded down flat 

 on the machinery. 

 Hebron, Ind. 



SELLING HONEY DIRECT TO THE CONSUMER 



Should the SelMng Price be Increased to Meet the 

 Growing Demand ? 



BY HARRY LATHROP 



In an editorial, page 35, Jan. 15, I note 

 the following: "But the scarcity of comb 

 honey and its higher price should make 

 producers wake up to the importance of 



producing more section 

 honey." Present con- 

 ditions would not seem 

 to justify me in chang- 

 ing from the produc- 

 tion of extracted to that 

 of comb honey. My ex- 

 tracted honey nets me 

 10 cents, and is sold at 

 that price direct to con- 

 sumers, or to merchants 

 or distributors. I am 

 unable to secure more 

 stock, even at 9 cents 

 cents in job lots deliv- 

 ered here; and having 

 sold out I must tell my 

 customers that I am un- 

 able to fill orders be- 

 fore the new cro]) comes 

 in. I have a letter from 

 President York in which 

 he advises me that some 

 lots of tine comb honey 

 are being sold in Chi- 

 cago at 12^/2 to 13 cents. 

 Those jirices do not 

 look good to me in view 

 of the fact that I can 

 not buy western white 

 extracted honey in that 

 city at less than 9 or 

 9^ cents. We ought 

 to work toward uni- 

 formity of pi'iee and a 

 stable market for our 

 product. I advocate 

 selling direct to consumers, and at as low a 

 pirce, or as near fii^t cost, as jDossible. Tliis 

 will increase the consumption of honey, 

 and make it a popular food, as it deserves 

 to be. 



I will explain why I ask jobbers or mer- 

 chants one dollar a pail for a ten-pound 

 package, the same as the one who buys only 

 one pail. If a customer comes to me for a 

 single pail of honey I hand it to him and 

 take his dollar. I have no boxing to do, no 

 shipiDing, and many times do not even put a 

 label on it. He gets the honey at a whole- 

 sale price by coming after it. If a customer 

 writes for a single pail by exjjress he in- 

 closes one dollar. The express charges on 

 the honey will be 35 cents. This leaves a 

 margin for the distributor or merchant who 

 will buy by the dozen and have the honey 

 shipped by freight. When I am asked to 

 make a lower price on lots I tell the pur- 

 chaser to make his own selling pi-ice and get 

 his profit out of the consumer, and not out 

 of me. There may be some weak points in 

 this method, but I can't see where it is un- 

 fair to any one. True, it gives my home 



