14 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



January 



The optimist often makes success of 

 failure, the pessimist more often fail- 

 ure of success, he looks for misfor- 

 tune, anticipates it, gets neady for it, 

 and is disappointed if it does not come. 

 The successful bee keeper is natur- 

 SiWy an optimist, were he not, bee 

 keeping would soon be of little con- 

 sequence as an agricultural pursuit. 

 We must look always for a better seas- 

 on next year than has been, and use 

 all diligence to make it successful. 

 The past year was a series of trials 

 for many bee keepers, manufacturers 

 and publishers. Those who pulled 

 through are entitled to a reward the 

 coming season, and let us hope they 

 will receive it. We shall try to make 

 the American Bee Keeper much 

 more interesting, and have in con- 

 templation several changes which will 

 make it of much more value to our 

 subscribers. AVe have endeavored to 

 run a journal for the special benefit 

 of the beginners in bee keeping, and 

 to that end have used great care in 

 the selection of articles, and have 

 kept our columns free from all scien- 

 tific contributions, etc. To do this 

 has at times been a rather difficult 

 matter, as the subjects pertaining to 

 bee keeping are not unlimited and it 

 is necessary to often "rehash" old 

 subjects. We trust our readers will 

 appreciate this and be lenient with us 

 accordingly if at times we present 

 subjects that seem worn out 



" There Jias been a good deal wriiten in re- 

 gard to advertising, but 1 thii.k there is one 

 point which has not as yet been fully em- 

 phasized; viz.: that the advertiser must not 

 be disappointed, nor blame any one, if he 

 gets no return from one insertion of an ad- 

 vertisementj'especailly if he is a new mar. 



We will say that Mr. A, for instance, 

 orders one insertion of an advertisement, 

 offering queens. He is a new man, and is 

 apt to expect that, within four or five days 

 after the appearance of his card, he will get 

 a large number of responses; but he forgets 

 that Mr. B, a well-known queen-breeder, 

 offers queens just as cheap, just as good, 

 and is known to be reliable. It is the most 

 natural thing in the world for bee-keepers 

 to buy of those who are well known. I do 

 not mean to discourage one-insertion ad- 

 vertisements, but usually they do not pay 

 unless some special inducement is offered in 

 the way of extra quality, extra low price 

 or something novel, that everybody wants to 

 see and get. But even then a plurality of 

 insertions is far more liable to get better 

 returns for the money invested." 



The above item which recently ap- 

 peared in Gleanings has been copied 

 in some of the bee journals with an 

 "amen" attached, and while we will 

 not disagree altogether with the ideas 

 set forth, our own experience, which 

 has extended through several years 

 and amounts to thousands of dollars, 

 has convinced us that a single inser- 

 tion of an advertisement pays better 

 on the amount invested than a con- 

 tinuous run. Also a certain amount 

 is invested to greater profit in a sin- 

 gle advertisement than a like 

 amount which is invested in a contin- 

 ued ad. The first time an advertise- 

 ment appears it is seen by a large 

 proportion of regular readers and if 

 of interest to them it has the desired 

 efl'ect, should it appear twice, a half 

 dozen or more times it is seen by but 

 a few more readers. Newspaper 

 publishers and advertising agents in- 

 variably argue that " continuous ad- 

 vertising pays best. "' It is certainly in 

 their interest to do so, but granting 

 that their opinions are unbiased, are 

 they in positions to judge? Is not 



