670 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Sending out sections containing pollen is 

 one thing against which we guard most 

 carefully. The sections are always sorted 

 in front of a window, where even a small 

 amount of pollen will show dark thru the 

 section. Nowadays people are not educated 

 (?) to pollen, and the first bite into it by 

 an innocent person is a sure guarantee of a 

 lost customer. 



A large part of the honey is sold in eases 

 liolding a dozen sections. We have never 

 tried larger eases, because it would be use- 

 less. Some people even say these cases are 

 too large. 



Of course quite a number of people don't 

 buy even a twelve-section case; so for sup- 

 plying them we use twelve-section retail 

 cases. In them are six section-holders, each 

 containing two sections instead of four as 

 in the supers. They also have division- 

 boards. When one section is left alone in 

 this length of holder it will not jolt around 

 enough to damage it. The ends of the sec- 

 tion-holders rest on cleats, so any leaking 

 honey will go into the bottom of the case. 

 Before tlie boards are nailed on the bottom, 

 a piece of white table oilcloth is fastened 

 on it. aixl then the boaixls on top of that. 



In the lid, the boards are fastened together 

 with strips of tin. The lid is perfectly flat 

 on top, and is covered with tin or heavy 

 building-i^aper. It has a cleat around the 

 edge on the under side. After this case is 

 completed it is stained inside and out a dark 

 brown, and given two coats of water-proof 

 varnish. When it is soiled it is wiped with 

 a damp cloth, and even the shiny white oil- 

 cloth in the bottom of the box is soon as 

 clean as ever. We have used this kind of 

 case for several years, and it has given 

 perfect satisfaction. It is needless to say 

 the sections themselves are scrupulously 

 clean. In every way we do all in our power 

 to make the honey attractive. 



If you have honey to sell, try to put 

 yourself in the consumer's place, and imag- 

 ine just bow it would appeal most to you. 

 Then fix it that Avay. For instance, if you 

 value your trade don't wrap cases or sec- 

 tions in newspaper. Leave them unwrapped 

 first. However, they are much more attrac- 

 tive in regular wrapping-paper. 



I hear some one ask, "Does all this pay?" 

 It most assuredly does. We have always 

 had more demand than honey, and at good 

 prices too. 



North East, Md. 



I AM NOT A SALESMAN 



BY G. C. GREINER 



From observation I know that beekeepers 

 as a rule greatly neglect the most vital part 

 of our pursuit. The financial success of all 

 onr beekeeping efforts hinges on the sale of 

 the product. If we do not put forth the 

 necessary efforts to increase our sales, all 

 the increase of our crops will benefit us very 

 little. In past years I have not done my 

 best in this direction; and today I am not 

 pushing things as I might. The only ex- 

 cuse I have for this neglect is that I am not 

 a natural-born salesman. It goes against 

 my nature. With the long experience uf 

 producing and selling honey I can do fairly 

 well after the ice is once broken ; but from 

 choice I would rather stay in my honey - 

 house or among my bees than start out into 

 a section where 1 am not alreadj' acquainted. 



Early this fall I received a postal card 

 from one of my old customers who had 

 inoved from his former home to a new sec- 

 tion of the city. The card requested me to 

 deliver his usual winter supply of honey on 

 my next market trip or Avhenever I could 

 make it convenient to call. When I stopped 

 at their house the lady of the house camo 

 to ray wagon and selected quite a quantity 

 of my goods; and while we were chatting 



the lady of the next residence joined us with 

 the intention of examining the contents of 

 my wagon. She, too, made quite a purchase. 

 Before she left the wagon a little girl 

 stepped up to me and said, " Mr. Greiner, 

 mam.ma wants you to stop at our house (the 

 third in the row) ; she wants some honey 

 too." This shows that people will buy hon- 

 ey if it is offered to them in attractive form, 

 and made convenient for them to procure 

 it, when otherwise they would never have 

 thought of honey. If I had stopped at 

 every house the length of the street, un- 

 doubtedly the majority of the inhabitants 

 could have been induced to make a pur- 

 chase. But I had been at the market, and 

 Avas nearly sold out. 



A neat attractive label is in many in- 

 stances the means of increasing sales. It 

 should not be too large to Ir'de the contents 

 of a glass package, but sufficiently conspic- 

 uous to attract the notice of the buyer. 

 At our last summer's gathering of beekeep- 

 ers I had a little discussion with one of our 

 prominent members on this subject. He 

 claimed it did not pay to go to the trouble 

 and expense of using labels. He said he 

 had his name pressed on his bottles foi' one 



