JULY 1. 1916 



537 



keepers to donate to this cause what they 

 usually spend for advertising. Printing 

 would be cheaper in large quantities ; and, 

 really, what is there to advertising in any 

 form but printing'? If the money held out, 

 would ii not be a good plan to get up a 

 design for a window display similar to what 

 was used for last year's coffee weekf My 

 plan would be to have individual beekeep- 

 ers ask their grocer and other grocers in 

 their city to put a display of honey in their 

 windows for the week. PerhajDs the grocer 

 would not be handling honey at the time, 

 but one could loan him enough in attractive 

 packages to make a display, and let him 

 settle for what he sells. Nine times out of 

 ten he would become a regular customer 

 when he sees how great his profits and sales 

 were on honey. Attractive stickers would 

 have to be furnished for beekeepers to put 

 on their envelopes, stationery, etc. These 

 would not necessarily have to be free, and 

 I think that beekeejiers would be glad to 

 pay the post price per hundred for them. 



A campaign of this size would be nothing 

 for a large private concern; but to the 

 average beekeeper it looks like a great task. 

 Why should it be such a great undertaking 



when we have the whole beekeeping frater- 

 nity to help? What beekeepers need is 

 closer co-operation and efficiency. When a 

 large private firm goes wrong they call in 

 "the etficiency expert;" when a beekeeper 

 goes wrong he throws down his smoker and 

 quits. This should not be, and we shall 

 never aceomiDlish anything until we learn to 

 stick together thru thick and thin, thru fat 

 years and lean ones. If this is true in other 

 things, it is also true in advertising, and we 

 can accomplish a lot by sticking together. 



When your brother beekeeper makes a 

 sale of honey to an old customer of yours, 

 don't say that you never will speak to him 

 again. Ferret out the reason, and see 

 whether cheaper honey, superior honey, or 

 advertising did the stunt. When you find 

 out, remedy the fault. Advertise if you 

 want business; or if he is selling honey 

 cheaper, find out if it isn't cheaper honey. 



What we beekeepers want is big business, 

 and we must create a sentiment in favor of 

 honey to sell it. My idea of a national 

 honey week is only an outline, and I hope I 

 shall not have to leave it to posterity to see 

 it exemplified. 



Springville, N. Y. 



APPEARANCE THE MOST IMPORTANT ADVERTISEMENT 



BY RUTH C. GIFFOED 



Honey, more than any other food, is sold 

 by its appearance. People are in the habit 

 of.eating the other foods, and will buy them 

 even when they are unattractive. But if 

 the honey is a little unattractive they say, 

 " Well, I guess I won't take any honey 

 today. I can get along without it." How 

 often I have heard that remark ! And is 

 there anything more discouraging? 



On the other hand, even if a customer 

 has not thought of buying any, when he sees 

 some nice clean-looking honey he says, "My ! 

 but that is beautiful honey. I want some 

 of that." 



My father, who handles most of the honey 

 locally, on a single trip often sells as much 

 as six eases (whole case to a family) to 

 people who never bought it before. The 

 people say, " Oh ! it looks so nice I can't 

 resist it;" and its only advertisement is 

 appearance. 



Several years ago my honey did not sell 

 well. In fact, it did not sell at all. I tried 

 to make it as attractive as I would have 

 wanted it if I had been the buyer. The 

 care started at the time the honey was taken 

 from the hives. Every section liad to have 

 all the cells sealed except the row next to 

 the wood. Of course I liked it sealed too. 



but that is not always possible. Not a sin- 

 gle section containing unsealed honey (ex- 

 cept in outside row) was ever offered for 

 sale. The damage done to the trade, and the 

 difficulty in selling unsealed honey, is almost 

 unbelievable — unless you have had experi- 

 ence. 



Then every speck of the propolis was 

 cleaned from the outside, the edges, and the 

 inside of the sections. The need of this 

 work, in spite of the fact that it is often 

 mentioned, cannot be too strongly empha- 

 sized. People call propolis and surplus wax 

 dirt. The person who is selling the honey 

 can talk himself deaf and dumb in explain- 

 ing propolis, and the customer will turn 

 right around and call it dirt. Cleaning the 

 sections is hard work; but in this locality I 

 have the choice of cleaning them or not 

 selling them. It also keeps my trade. Peo- 

 ple often say, " 1 began to think you were 

 not coming this fall. Two men have been 

 here and their honey was cheaper than 

 yours; but I waited for you. Their honey 

 was dirty." 



The final thing needed to help my honey 

 was an attractive package. Cases holding 

 twelve sections i^roved to be the most popu- 

 lar for family use. These were stained a 



