1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



225 



wishes to sneak in and pretend afterward 

 that it was through ignorance on his part, 

 he must do so under pretense of not having 

 read this article. Further, I wish to say 

 that any one who is thinking seriously of 

 going into the bee business in this valley 

 will be a welcome guest at my home in old 

 Mesilla; and if I can be away at all I will 

 show him the country and introduce him to 

 the bee-keepers who are to be his fellow- 

 scramblers for the nectar secreted on this 

 bee-range, which is so bounded by the lim- 

 its of irrigation. 

 Mesilla Park, N. M. 



ADVERTISING HONEY. 



BY WALTER S. POUDER. 



This very interesting subject is now being 

 discussed by many leading honey-producers 

 throughout the country, the object being to 

 learn whether an advertising campaign can 

 be conducted successfully and in a way that 

 will increase not only the demand for hon- 

 ey but the price. The subject is before the 

 National association as well as before many 

 State organizations; and when we speak of 

 advertising we usually refer to printer's ink 

 as applied to space in magazines and news- 

 papers; yet there are many other ways of 

 advertising one's business. We see a sin- 

 gle magaziue page for one issue, for which 

 as much as $5000 has been paid, and the ad- 

 vertiser continues to use the space regular- 

 ly; for if he drops out for even one i^^sue, 

 those who look for the attractive engravings 

 and artistic printing are sure to think that 

 the firm has gone into the hands of a receiv- 

 er, or that it is out of business. Those with 

 experience in advertising have learned that, 

 in order to get results, they must continue 

 the space, no matter how small it may be. 

 I have often wondered if the goods sold 

 through extravagant adve tising are not 

 produced and sold at an immense profit — I 

 even wonder if the shipping-box and the 

 printed matter do not cost more than the 

 goods. Just imagine advertising honey, 

 and shipping everywhere at a margin of two 

 cents or less pe-^ pound! The editor of the 

 R^mew suggests that some one might put 

 up a few paper honey-jars in a strong carton 

 and advertise a dollar package of extracted 

 honey. The idea is a brilliant one, but not 

 practical until we have the benefit of the 

 parcels-post system; for the different ex- 

 press rates to different points would make 

 the project prohibitive. It is hnrd to un- 

 derstand why we are denied the benefits of 

 the parcels post, especially when we consid- 

 er how we are discriminated against. By 

 way of illustration I would cite the follow- 

 ing example: I can mail eleven pounds to 

 almost any foreign country at a low rate; 

 but if I wish to mail a package to Irving- 

 ton, four miles distant, I must limit the 

 weight to four p .unds, and pay one cent 

 per ounce. Surely the time can not be far 

 distant when a thing so much in demand 

 will be withheld. 



Our downtown department stores spend 

 thousands of dollars in newspaper advertis- 

 ing, and ii is not unusual to observe the 

 women turn to the advertising pages to see 

 what bargains L. S. Ayres or Wassons will 

 offer to-morrow for ninety-eight cents. The 

 throngs in the stores are an indication 

 that advertising brings results; but still 

 other methods aside from the newspapers 

 are used. We find the salesmen well train- 

 ed, polite, tidy in their apparel, and they 

 hand the package and change to the patron 

 with a courteous "Thank you," or "1 hope 

 you will be pleased." That is good adver- 

 tising, and worthy of imitation, even if one 

 had nothing but an extracting-room and an 

 occasional patron! Did you ever make a 

 purchase where the clerk tossed your pack- 

 age to you, and then dropped your change 

 on the counter, making it necessary to re- 

 move your glove in order to pick up the 

 money? — Bad advertising. 



I firmly believe that the best advertising 

 a honey-dealer can do is to ad b ere to the 

 finest quality of goods when wanted for 

 table purposes. I consider it the best ad- 

 vertising in all the world; but it may be a 

 slow business-builder. Another important 

 feature is to have uniform quality — that is, 

 not one batch of white-clover honey and the 

 next day alfalfa or sweet clover. If one 

 does this his purchasers will become suspi- 

 cious; for the general public is unfamiliar 

 with the different kinds of honey. Indian- 

 apolis is considered one of the best honey- 

 consuming towns in the entire country; and 

 yet conditions could be much improved if 

 our retail stores were supplied with a better 

 quality of honey. I am always interested 

 in seeing the various samples that I find in 

 our stores, and I am glad to say that many 

 of them are excellent, and speak well for 

 the bottlers. On the other hand, I often 

 find honey that never should have been sold- 

 for table purposes — some that is seriously in 

 need of being strained; some that is inferior 

 in quality, and some that has probably been 

 overheated in liquefying. I also find very 

 interior honey bearing the National label, 

 with the bottler's name. I have no doubt 

 that it is pure; but he w ho buys it will want 

 no more honey on his table. — Bad advertis- 

 ing and its effect is felt by all concerned. 

 What can organizations do in such cases? 



The man who attempts the bottling busi- 

 ness on a small scale has a hard row to hoe 

 if he makes prices in c< mpetition vith the 

 man who buys his honey and glassware in 

 car lots. He pays more for his honey, more 

 for his empty bottles, and is then likely to 

 find a lot of them broken, thus making it 

 necessary to use a cheaper grade of honey 

 in order to compete. — Bad a<ivertising. For- 

 tunately the bee-keeper who bottles his hon- 

 ey does not feel compelled to meet the com- 

 petitive prices, but can realize a p'ice above 

 the standard because he has the bt-es, and 

 this is a fine advertisement for his business. 

 People are pleased to get their honey from 

 the man who owns the bees; they want 

 their butter from the man who has the 



