508 



GI^EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



JUI.Y 1. 



proprietor is interested in what you have. He 

 has but Httle honey, or none at all; and when 

 you see there is probably a chance to sell him 

 some you say, " I have just come to town, and 

 have talked to but one man. I am very sure 

 you could do well with the honey I have if I 

 could sell it to [you. I have only 15 cases 

 with me — 7 of the fancy grade and 8 of the 

 dark; and if I could sell jou my load, I am 

 confident you would realize well on the pur- 

 chase." 



He looks at you with eyes wide open; he 

 thinks to himself, "Fifteen cases of honey at 

 one purchase? Gracious ! wonder if he thinks 

 I sell all the groceries used in this county." 

 But all the same you have made a favorable 

 impression. You have flattered him by as- 

 suming that he is one great big merchant, and 

 you have impressed him with the idea that 

 you are out to do business on a big scale. 



"Fifteen cases? oh! I couldn't use that 

 much. You see, the grocery business is ter- 

 ribly cut up here. There are many stores, and 

 of course every man has his friends. We nev- 

 er buy very heavily. We keep pretty close to 

 shore, as the saying is; but then I don't mind 

 buying a few cases of you if I can get it right. ' ' 



If you had taken in a case and asked him 

 to buy it he would hardly have thought of 

 asking for more; but now that you put the 

 idea into his head of buying the load he feels 

 safe in risking a few cases. Likely you sell 

 him three of each grade. You set the cases 

 in a conspicv;ous place and he remarks that 

 it looks like enough to run his trade for three 

 months; but you thank him for the money, 

 and wish him better luck in moving it than 

 he imagines. You certainly would not have 

 sold him six cases if you had tried to sell him 

 one, and it is almost as certain you would not 

 have sold him six if you had not first talked 

 up the sale of your load. 



Now you go back to the man who was too 

 busy at your first call. You tell him your 

 business, and where you are from, and that, 

 as he will be soon out of honey, he is interest- 

 ed in what you have to say; but he is one of 

 those men who always want to cut and slash 

 prices; and to do this he begins to talk hard 

 times and low prices. 



"I have only nine cases of this left, and I 

 should like to sell you the lot. ' ' 



" But your price is too high." 



" I do not think so, considering the quality 

 I furnish." 



' ' But I can get it shipped in from the whole- 

 sale houses and commission men in Blank 

 City for at least a cent, and likely a cent and 

 a half, less than your prices, and get my busi- 

 ness discounts besides." 



"It is barely possible that you can do as 

 well; but I very much doubt about your get- 

 ting as good value for the money as I offer 

 you. There is the risk of your not getting as 

 good an article as you expect when you place 

 an order, and also risk of breakage in transit. 

 I am right here with the honey; every section 

 of it is in first-class condition; you can see ex- 

 actly what you are buying — no freight, dray- 

 age, or breakage; and if any case I sell you is 

 not as represented I will take it off your hands 



next time I come over, without any hard feel- 

 ings on the part of any one, or a lot of un- 

 pleasant correspondence over such a matter. 

 I sell to every one alike; and while it is nat- 

 ural for every buyer to want to do a little 

 better, and have a small advantage over his 

 competitor (and I do not blame you for it), at 

 the same time I know by experience that it is 

 more satisfactory all around to treat all alike. 

 You can make 25 per cent easily enough on 

 my honey at the prices I offer; and the rebate 

 on the cases when empty, if you will let me 

 have them back in good condition, will more 

 than equal the business discount you men- 

 tion. If you had these nine cases standing up 

 front here I do not doubt it would attract as 

 much attention, and make as fine a show, as 

 any lot of honey you ever handled." 



He tries to beat you down on the price; but 

 you are firm, though very gentlemanly, and, 

 as a result, he concludes to take two cases of 

 fancy and two of dark, after you have reas- 

 sured him that you will be over again in 60 

 days or so, and will pay him 10 cents each for 

 the empty cases if he keeps them in good 

 condilion. 



Riverside, Cal., June 8. 



To he continued. 



BEE-KEEPING IN "MERRIE ENGLAND," 



J. H. Howard, Holme, Peterhoro, England, and his 

 Apiary; the Weed-foundation Man of England. 



Just 14 years ago the site of the apiary pic- 

 tured in the illustration was an uncared-for 

 and waste corner of land in Holme, near 

 Peterborough, Mr. Howard at that time leav- 

 ing his native town of Huntingdon, and taking 

 up his residence there, to serve as builder, etc., 

 to the late W. Wells, Esq., then owner of the 

 extensive Holme Wood estate. We imder- 

 stand the "squire" gave much encourage- 

 ment to Mr. Howard, and when the latter had 

 fully equipped his apiary with hive, bees, and 

 manipulating - house, besides planting the 

 spare ground with frv;it-trees and flowers, fre- 

 quent visits were paid to the apiary by Mr. 

 and Lady Louisa Wells, and their numerous 

 visitors and friends. The late William Raitt, 

 after visiting most of the more important 

 British apiaries, on seeing Mr. Howard's place 

 at once named it "The Model Apiary" — a 

 designation its owner is justly proud of, as 

 coming from the well-known Scotch bee- 

 master. The rather exceptional nature of 

 Mr. Howard's surroundings has placed him 

 in touch, as it were, with some of the best 

 families in the countr)-, an advantage he has 

 put to good use in forwarding the general 

 interests of the craft. In order to thus secure 

 the patronage of influential people — whose 

 position in country districts enables them to 

 render so much help — modern bee-keeping 

 has at all times been demonstrated with live 

 bees, and their work at the " model " apiar}', 

 and impromptu lectures, given on many 

 occasions by Mr. Howard to select companies 

 of ladies and gentlemen interested in the sub- 

 ject. In fact, the manipulating-house was 



