460 THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



While it is a fact that food products are high in price when 

 leaving the hands of the producer, they seem unreasonably so when 

 purchased by the consumer. Having been on both sides of the 

 counter, having been somewhat of a middle-man myself, I am in a 

 mood to sympathize with them as well as the producer. I want to 

 say that it is not the middle-man so much as the system of selling 

 that is to blame for prices soaring so high at retail. The producer 

 himself has brought this condition about, unconsciously without a 

 doubt, but surely nevertheless. Let us see. 



By hard study and years of practice we have learned to produce 

 a crop of honey "of quality," and all these years have hardly given 

 a thought to the big end, that of selling our crop of honey to the 

 best advantage, but instead have shipped it off in a lump, perhaps, 

 employing some one else to really do the selling. Then he in turn 

 perhaps re-sells to some bottler who puts it into high priced glass, 

 (if extracted honey). Then the bottler sells to the wholesaler and 

 he to the retailer, then the retailer to the consumer. Is it any won- 

 der our white extracted honey sells to the consumer at from 25 to 

 30 cents per pound, after going through so many hands, and no 

 doubt being shipped several different times before reaching the 

 consumer? 



It is a wonderful system, the mercantile — -each charging only 

 what is known as a "legitimate profits," but the several "legitimate 

 profits" many times aggregate more than the original cost of the 

 product. 



It is hardly necessary for me to mention the remedy. Simply 

 sell your product as nearly direct to the consumer as possible, pock- 

 eting say the retailer's profit, and by so doing, sell to the consumer 

 for about half what he is paying for his hone3'' with the present 

 method of selling. 



There are several ways that the producer can reach the con- 

 sumer direct, but I will not mention them at this time, but instead 

 I will ask some of the readers who have made a success of selling 

 direct to the consumer, to describe their dift'erent methods of selling 

 for the columns of the Review. 



This I consider a live subject, and I think it desirable to pub- 

 lish at least one article each month during next winter along this 

 line. — TowxsEXD. 



Testing Honey By the Use of a Hydrometer. 



Were one to offer for sale honey containing more than 25% 

 water, it would be considered adulterated, according to an act of 

 Congress known as Food and Drug Act, June 30, 190fi. 



When a crop of extracted honey is left upon the hive, and all 

 extracted at one time, and that time a week or ten days after the 



