1884 



GLEAKiNGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



119 



SELLING EXTRACTED HONEY. 



FULL INSTRUCTIONS IN HEGAHD TO A PLAN THAT 

 WILL DO IT EVERY TIME. 



f^HE following we copy from the Country 

 Gentleman, by permission of the writer, 

 — our old friend W. Z. II. It was written 

 in answer to a letter sent friend II., asking 

 how to get rid of oOOO lbs. of honey that did 

 not seem to sell of itself : 



My experience, which has been mostly with ex- 

 tracted honey, teaches nie that a really superior ar- 

 ticle of honey for table use can not De obtained un- 

 less it is left in the hive until sealed over and thor- 

 oughly ripened, and in this view I am supported by 

 such men as the Rev. L. L. Langstroth, James Hed- 

 don, Chas. Dadant, and many others. 



Knowing the above facts, no man possessing com- 

 mon sense would expect to enter a grocery where 

 extracted honey had never been handled, and elTcct 

 a sale at market price. I tried it many times when 

 first starting in the business, and almost invariably 

 was told that thP grocer did not believe he could 

 handle honey in that shape. If I had some in the 

 comb he would buy it. 1 have steadily and gradual- 

 ly developed my home market, until it takes all the 

 extracted honey that I raise; but, if I had a few 

 thousand pounds more than I could sell near home, 

 I think that I should not ship it to commission men 

 to sell at 7 to 10 cents per pound, less freight and 

 commission. 



This may be the best, and in fact the only course 

 for many bee-keepers, for the reason that selling is 

 not their forte. To raise a good crop is one thing, 

 to sell it at the best advantage is another: hence, 

 bee-keepers who are poor salesmen should either 

 raise comb honey, or be content to allow other men 

 to sell their honey. My own peddling skill was de- 

 veloped by several years of " canvassing " for differ- 

 ent articles, and if I had a large crop of honey to 

 sell, I should send myself out in the capacity of a 

 "drummer." I should put the honey up in tin pails 

 varying in capacity from P.i pounds to 5 pounds; 

 allow it to crystallize; adorn the pails with neat la- 

 bels, and also labels explaining in regard to the crys- 

 tallization, how to restore it to a liquid state, etc. 1 

 should make boxes large enough to hold even dozens 

 of each size. ) should also make enough neat little 

 stands, upon which to expose the honey for sale, so 

 that I could furnish each dealer with one. Honey 

 must be placed in a position where people will see 

 it, otherwise many do rot think of buying. I should 

 make these stands of the " knock down " order, so 

 that they can be taken to pieces and packed in the 

 first box of honey shipped to a dealer. After getting 

 the honey all in readiness for shipment, I should 

 take a large valise, put into it one of the honey- 

 stands, enough of the honey-pails to appropriately 

 fill the stand, but thej' should all be empty, except 

 one small one, on account of the weight in carrying 

 them, and that should be filled with crystallized 

 honey, just as I expected to sell it. All the pails, 

 however, should be supplied with labels. I should 

 also carry with me a bottle of the same kind of hon- 

 ey in a liquid state. I should select a route of such 

 character that 1 could swing around a circle back to 

 my home. 



Upon entering a place of business, I should inform 

 the proprietor that I was a bee-keeper in search of 

 customers for my honey. If he did not know what I 

 meant by extracted honey, I should explain, illus- 

 trating my remarks by taking from my valise a work 

 upon bee culture, and showing him the engravings 

 of movable-comb hives, honey-extractors, etc. Aft- 

 er he fully understood what it was, I should show my 

 liquid samples, allowing him to taste it, then explain 

 in regard to the crystallization of honey, sustaining 

 the truth of my assertions, if necessary, by refer- 

 ence to the " bee book," following this up by exhib- 

 iting the pail of crystallized honey. If he became 

 interested, and would allow mo to do so, I should 

 now put together the honey-stand, place it upon the 

 counter, and, arranging the shining tin pails, with 

 their bright labels, upon the stand, call his attention 

 to the attractive appearance of the pails thus ar- 

 ranged upon a stand upon his counter. After the 

 talking and explaining is all over —and an immense 

 amount is required— it is barely possible that a sale 

 can be effected, but ten to one the reply will be : "I 

 don't know whether I can sell it or not: I guess I 

 will not buy any to-day." The only thing that can 



now be done is to ask permission to send a box of 

 honey to be sold on commission. This will seldom 

 be refused, and the dealer should be informed in re- 

 gard to the objections that customers will urge 

 against the honey. In fact, he should be as fully 

 "posted " as it is possible to make him in a single 

 conversation. The dealer must be educated, and, 

 through him, the people. An extra pail of honey 

 should be placed in each box, and the dealer in- 

 structed to take it home and liquefy it, use part of 

 it (so that he will know that it is good, and recom- 

 mend it), and bring the remainder back to his place 

 of business and keep it in a glass vessel, such as a 

 jelly-tumbler. Thus customers can be shown how 

 the honey appears and tastes after it is liquefied. 

 This is quite important. To build up a trade in this 

 manner for extracted honey, requires an immense 

 amount of talk, patience, and perseverance, but I 

 know that it can be done. 



In three or four weeks after shipping the honey, 

 the dealers should be again visited, when it will be 

 found that there are many points upon which some 

 of them wish to be enlightened. One customer has 

 said one thing, another a different thing, and so on. 

 A few have sold very little honey, others half of it, 

 a few perhaps all that was sent. After making two 

 or three trips it may be possilile to conduct the busi- 

 ness by correspondence. Every bee-keeper who 

 wishes to raise extracted honey should send to 

 Chas. Dadant, Hamilton, 111., tor his pamphlet on 

 harvesting, handling, and marketing extracted hon- 

 ey. It costs little, tint is worth |10. Mr. Dadant 

 has handled 45,000 pounds of extracted honey in 

 three years, and tells how he did it. 



Genesee County, Mich. W. '/.. Hutchinson. 



Very likely sonie of the friends will object 

 to the above, by saying that it is too much 

 trouble. Well, if you can not take the trou- 

 ble you will have to sell at a low price, or 

 let it stand unsold. I know by experience 

 that friend II. is exactly right about it, and 

 that such a course will ultimately build up a 

 home market that will sell immense quanti- 

 ties of good extracted honey. 



SOITIETHINO MOKE FAVOKABLE FKOM 

 THE XINC HONEY-BOAKDS. 



DO THEY RESTRAIN QUEENS, OK DO THEY NOT? 



fHOPE no one will give up the idea of using per- 

 forated zinc, on account of the unfavorable 



' reports that have appeared in the two last num- 

 bers of Gleanings. From my own experience, I 

 know that it can be used with perfect success. I 

 work almost entirely for extracted honey. My hives 

 are the common two-story Langstroth, with a slat 

 honey-board between the upper and lower stories. 

 The honey-boards are made of four slats, with a cleat 

 on each side, leaving a space about 2 inches wide be- 

 tween each of the slats. 



When the honey season opened last spring I put 

 perforated zinc honey-boards, instead of my slat 

 honey-boards, on four of my strongest hives of 

 Italians. 1 filled the upper stories with empty combs, 

 and a few frames of brood from below. The bees 

 worked through the zinc with perfect freedom. But 

 here comes the trouble. The hives were made for 

 '/4-inch honey-boards, so there was a space half an 

 inch wide between the bottoms of the frames in the 

 upper story and the zinc honey-board. Before long, 

 the upper frames were fastened down so solid that 

 it was almost impossible to get them out. Then, 

 again, when I wanted to look into the lower story, 

 the zinc honey-board was fastened down so tight 

 that I had to bend it all out of shape to get it off. 

 Before long the queens began to appear in the upper 

 stories. The cause was not far to seek. The zinc 

 honey-boards were just the right width; but they 



