-1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



85 



we know in advance what we will get, 

 besides we have no high freights or 

 commissions to pay. But to establish 

 a home market for your honey you 

 will have to do some hustling. Adver- 

 tise your goods thoroughly, olfer peo- 

 ple some inducement to give your arti- 

 cle a fair trial, and if your honey is 

 what it should be you will soon be 

 able to dispose of a considerable quan- 

 tity right at home. 



One very important item in culti- 

 vating a local demand is to never sell 

 your customers a poor article unless 

 you thoroughly explain the faults of 

 an inferior article should you sell it. 

 Then. if they insist on having honey 

 of a lower grade because you are sell- 

 ing it a little cheaper, or should you 

 be without any that is first class, let 

 them have it ; but [ think it a better 

 plau not to sell a poor grade of honey 

 in the home market under any cir- 

 cumstances ; better use it for feeding 

 the bees. 



After having built up a good home 

 trade you will have to be careful in 

 order to keep it, or to build it up still 

 more. Even if you have a good repu- 

 tation and are considered honest and 

 reliable, your honey may some day be 

 called "bogus" if you are not care- 

 ful. Remember that many consum- 

 ers know very little about honey. I 

 have known partie.'? to buy nice ex- 

 tracted white clover honey, and alter 

 finding that it granulated they pro- 

 nounced it sugar and lard and proba- 

 bly believed it to be such, when a lit- 

 tle explanation in advance, or a label 

 explaining the peculiarities or honey 

 placed on the package would have 

 made all clear. Remember it is easier 

 to prevent false rumors than to stop 

 them. 



Steeleville, 111. 





Editou American Bee-Keeper, 

 Dear Sir: It is no misnomer at the 

 present time to call Florida the "Land 

 of Powers." Leconte pears are very 

 abundant in this locality, and the 

 trees are white with blossoms. I have 

 counted twenty eight single flowers in 

 one cluster which appears at a little 

 distance to be one huge blossom. 

 Early varieties of peaches have fruit 

 as large as an haz-1 nut, while necta- 

 rines and early varieties are holding a 

 carnival of pink. Pink and white 

 are the principal colors now. This is 

 paradise for plums. The air is redo- 

 lent with the perfume of ti-ti. It has 

 delicate white blos^soms growing in 

 raceme and is a thing of beauty. 

 . There are so many white honey 

 flowers now I do not see how the bees 

 decide for which to give their prefer- 

 ence. 



Florida is making rapid advance- 

 ment in improved bee culture and 

 horticulture. Moj<t any of the Chi- 

 nese or Japanese fruits do well here. 

 Yours very truly, Mrs. L. Harrison. 



St. Andrews Bay, Fla., Mch. 12,'96. 



The W. T. Falconer M'p'g Co., 

 Gentlemen : Enclosed find check for 

 the balance of ray account. I have 

 not unpacked all of the goods yet but 

 presume they are all right. I have 

 three different makes of hives on hand 

 but yours are superior to all, both in 

 workmanship and quality of material, 

 >^ % Yours truly, Geo.R Gray. 



March 20, 1896. 



