NOVEMBER 1, 1912 



091 



CREATING A LOCAL MARKET 



BY FRANK C. PELLi^'iT 



Now that the honey eroiD is harvested, 

 the next question before the beekeeper is 

 how to find the most profitable market for 

 his crop. Few men have a proper ap- 

 preciation of the possibilities of the home 

 market. When the writer moved to his 

 present location and began keeping bees in 

 a small way there was but a slow sale 

 for even the little suri^lus i^rodueed. I 

 found a beekeeper in the person of John 

 Duii'ord already on the ground. He was 

 producing a fine article of comb honey, and 

 putting it on the market in first-class eon- 



Frank C. Pellett, State Bee Inspector of Iowa. 



dition. As would be expected, he had the 

 cream of the local trade, and his customers 

 were so well satisfied that they seldom even 

 asked at what price a competitor was sell- 

 ing. If asked about honey they simply 

 replied, "Duft'ord always supplies us with 

 what honey we use." Most of the stores 

 also were supplied from the same source. 

 As I did not have a large quantity to dis- 



pose of I found sale for it during the 

 year, but mostly in such small quantities 

 as to be annoying. I did not want and 

 could not afford to get customers by cut- 

 ting the price, for the price was already 

 too low. I had no intention of shipping 

 the few hundred pounds that I had to offer 

 to some other point, but determined to cre- 

 ate a market. Accordingly about the third 

 year I put extraeting-supers on a few 

 colonies, and put up the product in quart 

 jars. I chose the Sclu-am jar, as it is 

 of clear glass. I find that the honey sells 

 much more readily in these jars than in 

 the Mason jars, partly because of the more 

 attractive toj) and iDartly because of the 

 clearer glass, which makes the honey look 

 much more attractive. The merchants were 

 skeptical about extracted honey. People 

 Avould not buy it, they said. I remember 

 how hard I found it to make a deal with 

 one merchant by which I left half a dozen 

 jars to be sold if possible ; and if not sold, 

 to be returned. The first season the sale 

 was slow, but I kept it constantly on dis- 

 play in a favorable situation in several 

 of the stores. Sometimes I sent a liberal 

 sample to persons who might prove valu- 

 able customers. The second season I pro- 

 duced more extracted honey and it sold 

 better. 



Now I sell all I can produce through 

 one merchant, and do not have to bother 

 about peddling it around. I now work 

 my few colonies nearly altogether for ex- 

 tracted honey, a\|d leave the comb-honey 

 market to Mr. Dufford. Instead of injur- 

 ing his market I have helped it, and the 

 price has constantly tended ui3ward. Last 

 year I sold about 2000 pounds, nearly all 

 through the one store, and our supply ran 

 out several weeks before the new crop 

 came in. This honey advertising has also 

 helped the store with its other lines, and 

 helped to enlarge their trade. They tell 

 me that they have several regular honey 

 customers who live in Des Moines and 

 Omaha, but that they have become accus- 

 tomed to our honey, and feel sui'e of the 

 quality. 



This fall at the county fair tliere was 

 a special exhibit of Atlantic-made goods. 

 The local factories had their light ningrods, 

 wagons, brick, tile, and other goods on dis- 

 l^lay. I prepared an exhibit for my grocer 

 also. An observation hive was used to 

 attract attention to the display. About 

 one hundred pounds of honey was put up 

 in pint, quart, and two-quart jars. Behind 

 the whole was placed a large sign appro- 

 priate to the place where the exhibit was 

 placed. It read as follows : 



