666 



of view whether that will or will not be an 

 evil. 



Now, here is a secret. I don't tell it to 

 any except a favored few, because I don't 

 want to get the masses to plunging into the 

 honey business. Araong ourselves we all 

 know what a bonanza honey-produoing is; 

 how a swarm of bees put in a $4.50 hive 

 will give 400 pounds of honey, which, if we 

 retail it ourselves in any of the big cities, 

 will bring us $100, and that all we have 

 got to do is to keep all the bees we can eare 

 for. When we allow for a poor season now 

 and then, and for a lower price now and 

 then just to crush some presumptuous com- 

 petitor, you know, we can surely average 

 $75.00 each; and if we are smart, and hus- 

 tle, we can take care of a thousand colonies 

 without help — that of the wife and children 

 doesn't count — so that the only problem 

 which really confronts us is that of market- 

 ing. Now keeping this secret to yours'^lf, 

 and bearing in mind the great jDossibilities, 

 you will more fully appreciate the vital 

 importance of the selling, and to which 1 

 will now return. 



Having found out what your crop is iii 

 quality, go out into the wilderness — of the 

 city — and study the ways of the wild crea- 

 tures. See what sort of packages are in 

 use. There may be none ; and then, oh 

 rapture ! there is a virgin field before yon. 

 But study packages, labels, etc., then get 

 some for yourself. 



I would tell you to get. a nice jar and a 

 neat label; but before I do, I will ask you 

 what constitutes a nice jar and a neat label? 

 Judging bj' much that I've seen in the 

 various markets, I think very few honey- 

 sellers have a clear idea of what is " nice " 

 or " neat." Most labels are an agonizing 

 jumble of type and color, very interesting 

 curiosities of the lithographer's art, but no 

 help at all in selling the honey. I don't 

 care a rap what the label says, provided it 

 only induces the observer to buy the pack- 

 age and test its contents. After that — if it 

 is my honey — he will come back for more 

 of the good things behind that label, and it 

 is just there that I want my label to have 

 an individuality which is exactly what the 

 made-by-the-mile lithographed does not 

 possess. 



What have I to say about packages? 

 What is your market? The average city 

 market wants a glass package, smooth clean 

 jar, smooth non-leakable top, and in sun- 

 dry sizes. One store will use nothing but 

 pounds; another a smaller, and another a 

 larger size, and still another a mixture of 

 two or more sizes. You never can tell till 

 you try them out. Size of package is gov- 

 erned by the customary purchasing price 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



of the community. In one town, pounds 

 retail for 15 cents; in another, for 30 cents. 

 One store sells only for even nickels, while 

 the next sells wholly on odd cents, as nine, 

 fourteen, eighteen, etc. ; and they measure 

 your price by what the packages retail for. 



One town will take dark-amber honey and 

 give the top price for it; another wants 

 light amber, while the next wants water- 

 white. One wants mild, almost insipid 

 honey, while the next wants something pret- 

 ty rank. 



Oh, this selling to the retailer is such a 

 simple art ! And even that simplicity is 

 simplified when these sundry preferences 

 exist between stores of the same town, and 

 each store wants a diiSerent brand, and the 

 salesman becomes insanely happy wlien on 

 top of all this the buyers want all candying 

 honey exchanged and all broken combs re- 

 placed. Oh, joy! 



Possibly one of the best ways to learn 

 the art of suiting the retailers is to go to 

 work for a few score of them, perhaps buy 

 for some of them at a profit - producing 

 price. And that reminds me — do you know 

 how much " profit " has to be added to your 

 goods before the consumer gets them? 

 Here are some of the costs between produc- 

 er and consumer, supposing the producer 

 sells his crop in bulk. Freight, cartage, and 

 jobbers' expenses, minimum fifteen per 

 cent; packages and packing, about ten per 

 cent ; " cash store " retail expenses, fifteen 

 to twenty per cent; while a credit store's 

 " overhead " may run to thirty-five or fifty 

 per cent. Suppose your honey goes to the 

 consumer in a pound jar selling for twenty- 

 five cents; deduct from that, say fifty per 

 cent just for expenses, then deduct what 

 yoii think are the profits of these middle- 

 men, and see how much is left for you. Can 

 you afford to produce honey at that price? 

 It depends on how much you produce at 

 how much per pound. Do you know ? Have 

 you even a remote idea? Better find out 

 before you get into the honey business very 

 deeply. When you find out the cost of 

 production, go into the cost of your market- 

 ing. You may find that the " overhead '' 

 expenses are up there like Damocles' sword 

 ready to cut off all your profits on the 

 slightest incautious move. Knowledge is 

 said to be power; but it is also at times 

 mightily disconcerting to our plans and 

 pipe dreams. However, it is just as well 

 to acquire a goodly bit of it at the start. 

 The good wife and kiddies are less likely 

 to be hungry and disappointed by and by. 



After you have learned all about what 

 your local market wants, you will find it is 

 so for only a little while ; that it is con- 

 stantly changing, and that, unless you are 



