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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



December, 1922 



why extracted honey is cheaper in price 

 than comb honey. Other stories dealt with 

 the bees themselves, how they swarm, how 

 they guard their hive against robbers, how 

 they keep warm in winter, etc. There is 

 such a wealth of material to choose from 

 that I found it hard to stop. At the end 

 of each story I ran my honey shop prices, 

 using about two inches of space for that 

 purpose. I paid for these stories at regular 

 space rates, and they were read generally 

 by the public, and brought me scores of new 

 customers who took the pains to speak of 

 the articles. In fact they created more dis- 

 cussion about bees and honey than any ad- 

 vertising I ever did. Often while they were 

 running I would be called over the phone 

 by some reader to settle some dispute about 



bee behavior. Two months after the close 

 of the series I hnd their effects still reflected 

 in my honey sales and inquiries. 



One effect of continued advertising of my 

 honey is the call for my honey rather than 

 just "any" honey, in the stores. Some- 

 times the merchants aren't fair, and that 

 has its drawbacks — but that is another 

 story. 



In conclusion I wish not to be regarded 

 as an oracle in honey advertising. Some of 

 my experiments in that line have fallen flat. 

 But on the whole my newspaper advertising 

 has paid and is paying me well, and, if intel- 

 ligently done, similar advertising, I am con- 

 vinced, can be made to pay other beekeep- 

 ers. 



Greeley, Colorado. 



One of C. H. Wolfe's out-apiaries, near (xreeley, Colo. The honey is sold locally by carefully planned 



advertising in local papers. 



COST OF HONEY PRODUCTION 



YOU ask me 

 to tell the 

 cost of hon- 

 ey produ c t i o n 

 and of how I 

 get at it. Why 

 pick on me? Just 

 because I have 

 been indiscreet 

 enough in the 



past to make some assertions about it and to 

 quote a few figures, it does not follow that 

 I know. But perhaps I can say something 

 that will help toward a solution of an im- 

 portant and troublesome problem. 



The question is often asked, "Does bee- 

 keeping pay?" and there are as many dif- 

 ferent answers as listeners. But how can 

 anyone give a fair and clear answer if the 

 cost of honey production is unknown? And 

 if we do not know what it costs us to pro- 

 duce a pound of honey, how can we tell 

 what to charge for it? And yet, year after 

 year, we sell our crop at what is offered, 

 and, so long as we make both ends meet, we 

 seem content. 



I remember the late Rambler's reply to 

 the query as to whether he could make both 



cAn Accurate Accounting of Costs 



is One of the First Requisites in any 



'business 



By Arthur C. Miller 



ends meet when 

 producing honey. 

 "Oh," was 

 his nonchalant 

 loply, "I gave 

 that up long ago 

 and now have 

 one end meat 

 and the other 

 vegetables. ' ' 

 Some Difficulties in Figuring Costs. 

 Perhaps the chief difficulty usually ex- 

 perienced in figuring costs is the mixing-in 

 of selling costs with production costs, and 

 separation of these two items is particularly 

 difficult when one retails most of the crop. 

 Another item which usually puzzles one 

 when trying to figure costs is placing an es- 

 timate on the value of one's labor; and this 

 is complicated when one keeps bees as a 

 "side line" and puts into the work a mini- 

 mum part of his time. A high-salaried man 

 with much leisure from his profession hesi- 

 tates to charge the honey business with the 

 same price per hour which his profession 

 yields, saying it is otherwise unprofitable 

 time or that the salary goes on anyway and 



