August, 1B21 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



483 



become one of his own customers and use 

 a portion of the honey, which he could have 

 extracted, to help insure the prosperity of 

 his colonies for next year. 



Ct — lO ^ CH M S 



UNDER the present conditions of the lioney 

 market it behooves every beekeeper to sell 

 every pound of honey 

 Selling Honey locally that is pos- 

 Locally, sible. Every pound 



that can be sold in 

 this way relieves the wholesale market just 

 that much, and in most cases that which is 

 sold locally goes to consumers who could 

 not be reached thru the ordinary channels 

 of trade, thus to a large extent opening up 

 a new outlet for honey. 



During the past few years, when the de- 

 mand for honey was heavy, much honey was 

 diverted from the local market to the whole- 

 sale market. It was so much easier to ship 

 the entire crop to a dealer at a good price 

 (in many cases more than could be obtained 

 locally) than to sell it in small lots near 

 home that producers could not afford to sui)- 

 ply the local trade. This has all been 

 changed within a year, and many beekeep- 

 ers are now selling their honey to farmers 

 and others in their locality, some extensive 

 producers being able in this way to dispose 

 of their entire crop. For this class of trade 

 the five and ten pound pails are being used 

 more and more. 



Those who are located on much traveled 

 automobile routes can sell large quantities 

 of honey at the roadside to passing motor- 

 ists by putting up an attractive sign where 

 the driver cannot fail to see it. Many bee- 

 keepers sell thousands of pounds in this way 

 every season. Many of those who buy hon- 

 ey in this way do not know that pure honey 

 can be purchased in the city. In fact, most 

 of them probably have never. given the sub- 

 ject of honey a thought before seeing the 

 honey sign at the roadside. The idea of 

 new honey fresh from the country appeals 

 to many city folks when it is brought to 

 their attention in this way, and a new cus- 

 tomer as well as a new booster for honey is 

 thus made, provided the beekeeper is wise 

 enough to offer for sale only the very best 

 quality of well-ripened honey. 



While it is not necessary that the apiary 

 be in sight, to sell honey at the roadside, it 

 is well to have at least a few colonies of 

 bees to help attract the attention of the mo- 

 torist. People like to buy honey from some- 

 one who has bees, and if the honey sign at 

 the roadside can be so located that the ap- 

 proaching motorist is led to glance from the 

 sign to the beehives, the combination should 

 have the desired effect if the driver is at all 

 fond of honey. 



Another aid to the selling of honey lo- 

 cally is advertising in the local paper. This 

 may be only a line or two, or it can be made 

 a half-page honey advertisement, as the 

 honey producer chooses. The small adver- 



tisement will help much, and the large ad- 

 vertisement will help more. Whatever the 

 size of the advertisement, em})hasize the 

 food value and deliciousness of honey and 

 the fact that it is a safer and better sweet 

 than any other. Also tell just how it can 

 be ordered and delivered. 



The beekeeper who is not a salesman may 

 find a neighboring beekeeper who is a good 

 salesman and who can dispose of more honey 

 than he produces. By turning over his crop 

 for the other man to sell, Mr. Poor Salesman 

 will be helping himself as well as the man 

 who sells it for him. 



In every case where honey is sold locally, 

 the beekeeper should demand a price suf- 

 ficient to pay him well for the trouble 

 of selling. He should remember that in sell- 

 ing his product direct to the consumer he is 

 rendering a service which is worth money 

 and he should secure pay for it. 



It often happens that a beekeeper sells 

 all the honey to a local dealer that he can 

 induce him to take, then afterwards peddles 

 out the remainder of his crop to this deal- 

 er's customers at the same price he received 

 from the dealer. Such a procedure is not 

 only unfair, but it is poor business. When all 

 the costs of selling are counted, as they 

 should be, the beekeeper will no doubt find 

 that it costs him more to sell honey than it 

 does the dealer. If this cost is not added to 

 the price of the honey, the producer loses 

 this amount which is rightfully his. If this 

 represented all the loss it would not be so 

 bad, but the producer who does this, by 

 shutting off the trade of his local dealer, is 

 closing one of the channels thru which he 

 expects to market a part of his honey in the 

 future. 



Just what price the beekeeper should ask 

 for his honey when selling locally at retail 

 will depend upon circumstances, but in any 

 case it should not be materially less than the 

 local dealer is asking. Gleanings is gather- 

 ing all of the data obtainable as to crop and 

 market conditions thruout the country. This 

 information is published on our market 

 pages, and every beekeeper who has honey 

 to sell should study these pages carefully. 

 Generally sjieaking, the retail price is more 

 than double that of the price in 60-pound 

 cans when the crop is sold in one lot. At 

 first this may seem like too much differ- 

 ence, but when the cost of the packages, the 

 expenses connected with selling, and the 

 time of the salesman are counted the costs 

 mount rapidly. 



To a few beekeepers, selling honey locally 

 at retail is a disagreeable task which they 

 will avoid if possible, but under present 

 conditions something must be done to in- 

 duce people to eat more honey, if the bee- 

 keeping industry is to thrive. If thousands 

 of beekeepers will take part in a drive of 

 this kind now, beekeeping should be able 

 to tide over these trying times and be in 

 better condition to supply the demand for 

 honev when normal times return. 



