1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



295 



to do on an order of that size. I usu- 

 ally allow He per pound on such size 

 lots for cash. All other lines of trade 

 giye discounts to heavy buyers, why 

 should not the honey trade? If you 

 succeed in getting an order from one 

 of the best grocers, then go to his 

 competitor and tell him Mr. So-aod-so 

 has bought 200 pounds of honey of 

 you at 12^0. cash, talking to him as a 

 drummer should, and the chances are 

 that you will get a duplicate order 

 from him, as he must furnish his cus- 

 tomers the same article at the same 

 price. If you cannot get sales started 

 in this way leave crates with two or 

 three reliable grocers, seeing that they 

 keep them in a prominent place where 

 peeple entering the stores will be sure 

 to see it, and you will soon get a trade 

 started. 



As to the lower grades, if you have 

 not a market already established for 

 them, I believe the best way is to ped- 

 dle them the first year, for these are 

 the grades that sell most readily to the 

 country people. Load fifty pounds 

 each of Nos. 2 and 3. also one case of 

 No. 1. and as much extracted honey, 

 on yuurroad wagon and start out early 

 in the morning thr(jugh a section 

 where good, thrifty farmers live and 

 you will not be disappointed when 

 night comes. These peddling trips 

 will advertise your honey m(jre than 

 any other way 1 know of, and people 

 will come year after year to your 

 house to get these grades of honey, 

 expecting to get a dollar's worth of 

 10 or 12^0. comb, and the same with 

 the extracted. 



To my mind most beekeepers should 

 raise both comb and extracted honey. 

 I usually have rather more extracted 

 than comb. That which is not sold 



direct to the consumer in bulk at 10c. 

 per pound is put up in Mason's im- 

 proved fruit cans, pints in size, and 

 nicely labeled and crated in the same 

 boxes the cans came in from the man- 

 ufacturer. These boxes hold one dozen, 

 and I sell them to the grocers at S2.40 

 per dozen in small lots, and give a dis- 

 count on large orders. At S2. 40 per 

 dozen the honey nets the producer 

 nearly or quite 10c. if the cans were 

 bought right. 



In conclusion I would say, produce 

 a fancy article, put it on the market 

 in a neat, tasty package, so that it will 

 be taking to the eye; then push it, ad- 

 vertise it, let people know you have 

 honey to sell, impress them that your 

 honey is fine — that they can depend 

 upon its purity and quality every time 

 and make it your legal tender when- 

 ever possible. What is most essential 

 is brains, energy and push, the very 

 same elements that make other lines 

 of business succ ssful. These put in- 

 to your home market will produce re- 

 sults you never dreamed of. 



Lowville, N. Y. 



(From Bee Keepers Record).— (British). 



ABOUT BEES AND BEl-KElPING. 



BtGlNNING WITH DRIVEN BEES. 



During the last few weeks I have 

 been paying my usual annual visit to 

 the hniiies of the busy bee, and in my 

 wanderings am n)ore than ever struck 

 with the number of folks one meets 

 who are just about to commence bee 

 keeping in earnest. Many of them 

 have been "skeppists" for years, but 

 are now about to start with a frame- 

 hive; others hardly know what a bee 

 is, but they intend 'going in for bees;" 

 while some intend to get a few skeps, 



