556 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



September, 1921 



proljlem sliows tli.it the consumer must ex- 

 pect to pay about 100 per cent more than 

 the producer received. This is all charged 

 to shijiping and selling. Under these con- 

 ditions if the producer received 12% cents 

 a pound, the retailer must receive at least 

 25 to 40 cents a pound in order to make a 

 profit of from three to five per cent. Fur- 

 thermore, if the beekeeper goes out and 

 sells at 15 cents per pound retail, then he 

 enters into direct competition with the deal- 

 er, and the dealer is forced to reduce his 

 price, thereby lowering the price which he 

 can afford to pay to the producer. Iii the 

 end this affects the wholesale jirice of hon- 

 ey, and the beekeeper at large must expect 

 to receive not more than seven or eight 

 cents per pound. 



Make the Industry a Big Business. 



It is unnecessary to state that the honey 

 business is suffering from lack of organiza- 

 tion, for every one who reads this article 

 is aware of the fact. What we need now is 

 active participation in every legitimate co- 

 operative movement for marketing honey. 

 Furthermore, if none exists in your county 

 or state, start one. 



The bee industry cannot thrive on eight- 

 cent honey, and neither can it progress as 

 long as it continues in its present condition. 

 What is needed is business co-operation 

 among beeiveepers — co-operative selling and 

 standardization of grades and packages. 

 When 50 per cent of the beekeepers in the 

 United States can realize this and get to- 

 gether even in small groups, there will be 

 some chance for the development which the 

 bee industry deserves. 



Why Not a Staaidard Tin Package? 



The National Canners' Association has 

 for a number of years been educating the 

 public to buy in tin instead of glass be- 

 cause the tin container is much cheaper. 

 Many of our beekeepers now prefer glass 

 both for smnll packages and even for one- 

 half gallon and gallon lots, and no doubt 

 the glass container will always have an ini- 

 jiortant place. But there are two sizes of 

 tins which could be used to great advan- 

 tage and can be made popular the country 

 over. These are the two-j^ound can and 

 five-pound pail. 



The great majority of people should never 

 be sold more than five or ten pounds of 

 honey at one time, and frequently it would 

 be better if it were only two pounds. Every 

 packnge should contain full directions for 

 liquefying honey, as there are thousands of 

 houswivcs who have partially filled pails of 

 candied honey on the pantry shelves and 

 who after leaving it there for two or three 

 ^'cars finally throw it away because they 

 do not know how to render it suitable for 

 table use. Of course a few use candied 

 honey, and like it, but the great majority 

 do not. 



Both the two-pound can and the five- 

 pound pail are easily shipped by parcel 



post, and, if we standardize our product so 

 as to have it always the same, the public 

 will quickly come to buying only in tin. 



It is said that the housewife buys mostly 

 on appearances; but this applies only to 

 products of variable nature, and honey is 

 certainly one of the variable products. Let 

 her buy three packages of anything that is 

 alike in quality, and she will continue in- 

 definitely to buy on faith until she runs 

 afoul of that can of dark-colored, badly 

 flavored, or fermented honey — and then, 

 good-bye! 



It costs from 12 to 15 cents a pound to 

 pack and sell a pound jar of honey exclu- 

 sive of the cost of the honey, while it can 

 be put up in five-pound pails for less than 

 lialf that cost. The five-pound pail is today 

 very popular in a few restricted districts, 

 especially in the West and the Southwest. 

 However, this size of package is not widely 

 known in the East where most of the honey 

 is sold, and a great deal can be accomplished 

 in a better distribution of lioney if more 

 publicity is given to this special package. 

 Sell a new customer who is not accustomed 

 to honey a 60-pound can and be prepared 

 never to sell that customer again. Sell him 

 the GO pounds in five-pound pails distrib- 

 uted over a longer period of time so. that 

 the family does not become fed up on honey, 

 and in years to come the same customer 

 may be developed into a sixty-pounder. 

 What is likely to happen if you sell such 

 a customer 60 pounds at one time? He finds 

 himself with a big supply and starts in eat- 

 ing it at every meal. In a few months his 

 appetite is glutted and he hates the sight 

 of honey. Sell him a five-pound pail, and 

 he <^ats it more slowly. When that is gone, 

 it leaves a pleasant taste with him, and 

 after a few weeks without honey he is 

 it'ady for more. 



Local Advertising. 



With a little judicious achertising and 

 and salesmanshiji, tlic |)roducer can prac- 

 tically control his local market, not only 

 with individuals hut with the growers as 

 well. Unless the jiroducer makes more of 

 an effort to get better local distribution, the 

 price of honey will continue to be too low 

 for profitable production. This price will 

 range from six to ten cents a pound in 60- 

 pound cans at the yard, while in the stores 

 on the grocer's shelf it will sell for 20 to 

 25 cents a pound in five-pound pails. The 

 bottler will not make the extra profit be- 

 cause the difference will be used up in 

 canning and selling. In other words, the 

 producer can earn 50 to 100 per cent more 

 on his crop by being his own salesman, if 

 he will use only up-to-date methods in pre- 

 paring his product and getting it on the 

 market. 



Practically no information concerning 

 honey is ever put into the hands of the pub- 

 lic, and very little is being done to create 

 a public demand for the best grades of 



