1898 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



539 



SELLING COMB HONEY TO GROCERS. 



Be Your Own Drummer; Work for and Expect 



Large Sales; Be Businesslike, and Answer 



Objections; Labels and Second-class 



Sections. 



BY G. K. HUBBARD. 



Concluded from last issue. 



At your next call you find a man who hard- 

 ly ever keeps any honey unless he gets a little 

 occasionally from a customer. 



" The times are too hard. It won't sell." 



" But sometimes people buy honey because 

 the times a>r hard." 



" How so? " 



' ' I see you have some high-priced preserves 

 and jams on your shelves here. The trade 

 that has been getting such goods is apt to buy 

 15 cents' worth of honey just because it does 

 not feel flush enough to buy something more 

 expensive. Or, instead of going home with- 

 out candy or something that the children 

 want and expect, a man will take home a few 

 sections of honey and tell the children that 

 these hard times they will have to get their 

 sweetmeats at the table with their meals. In 

 such cases you would sell the honey, if you 

 had it, when you would not sell either the ex- 

 pensive preserves or confectionery. You are 

 not paying store rent, and putting in your 

 time, for amusement, but 3'ou are here to sell 

 goods; and if the people do not find what 

 they want here they will buy elsewhere. ' ' 



"I don't think my trade would pay the 

 price for the- fancy honey, and I do not like 

 the cheaper grade." 



Removing the contrast bj' turning the fan- 

 cy case so that the honey in it can not be 

 seen, you reply, "This is a better grade of 

 honey than you think. The only possible ob- 

 jection to it is that of color. It is just as pure 

 and healthful, is well filled, and is in every 

 way as good an article as the bees can make 

 from the flowers it was gathered from. You 

 would be surprised at the ease with which you 

 can sell this grade of honey by mentioning its 

 purity and flavor if any one remarks about its 

 color. I have only three cases of this dark 

 grade left, and I can't see how you would re- 

 gret it if you would let me bringin the lot." 



" I could not use three cases of it, but I be- 

 lieve I will try one case and see how it goes." 



At your next call where you find any pros- 

 pect of a sale the proprietor says, "Yes, that 

 is fine-looking honey; but I have had it here 

 as nice, or nicer; and when I took it home to 

 eat I found so much filler in it that it was 

 tough inside." 



"You mean the comb foundation used in 

 the middle, I suppose. Yes, I know some 

 bee-keepers are very careless about this. They 

 use an inferior grade of home-made founda- 

 tion which can not be detected until the hon- 



ey is cut, and it is bound to give any thing 

 but satisfaction. We all use some foundation 

 in order to get the combs built straight in the 

 sections; but I am very careful to use only 

 the best article that can be made. The foun- 

 dation I use runs 12 square feet to the pound, 

 is the purest and best to be had, and is actual- 

 ly thinner than much naturally built comb. 

 In all the little points in honey production I 

 try to keep posted, and put out as fine an arti- 

 cle for its grade as any bee-keeper I know. If 

 I sell you the four cases I have left, and you 

 do not find them to be strictly all right I will 

 take them off your hands and refund the mon- 

 ey the first time I am over; or if you write me 

 a line I will come promptly and get them. I 

 am not here to-day merely to sell what honey is 

 now needed, but to build up a trade and make 

 an outlet for my large crop this season, and 

 probably for other seasons." 



"We always sell our honey by the frame, 

 and we sometimes get it that is every weight 

 and thickness, which results in a lot of cull- 

 ing-over, and then having to sell the last few 

 frames at a discount, may be below cost. I 

 see this case is pretty much all one thing, but 

 you have irregular or partly filled frames 

 sometimes, don't you? " 



"Yes, sir; but when you buy regular-grade 

 honey of me, that is exactly what 3'ou get. 

 I dispose of extra thick and thin combs at 

 some boarding-houses near home. The honey 

 I put on the general market is cased up with 

 the wishes of the grocer in view. Well-cap- 

 ped sections that will not weigh 12 ounces are 

 cased by themselves and sold together. There 

 are some grocers who prefer these light-weight 

 sections because they cost less, and they pre- 

 fer to sell something that goes at a small 

 price. By having the honey in a case somewhat 

 uniform in weight it saves the picking-over 

 that is apt to happen when there is a great 

 diff'erence in either color or weight in the sec- 

 tions in a given case." 



"But I wouldn't want to buy four cases. 

 You would sell me one of 3'our best grade, 

 wouldn't you? " 



"Yes; but surely one case of honey is a 

 small matter for a man with the trade you ap- 

 pear to have. I should like to sell you enough 

 to last until I come over again. Better take 

 one case of each grade, at least." 



' ' My trade does not go much on a poor ar- 

 ticle." 



" But my dark honey is not a poor article; 

 in fact, many bee-keepers who are not so care- 

 ful with their honey would call this their best. 

 It is a good idea to let a customer have his 

 choice in such matters, and then you vdll not 

 have people saying the}' can buy for a cent or 

 two less elsewhere. It is easy for them to be 

 deceived in quality while remembering the 

 price. To illustrate, you probably have a 

 great variety in price in the same kind of 

 canned goods, and your customers make their 

 selection. Why not give them the same 

 chance on honey? " 



He objects to the price, and wants a liberal 

 discount if he takes two cases; but you em- 

 phasize the rebate on the cases if in good con- 

 dition; tell him the last section in a case will 



