548 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Sale of Comb Honey— No. 1. 



G. SI. DOOLITTLE. 



Owing to pressure of business, a 

 sicli and helpless father to care for, 

 and a large correspondence to keep 

 up, I have not been able to give the 

 last part of my series of articles as 

 soon after the second part as I had 

 expected to, but as this is the time we 

 are all thinking about marketing our 

 honey, perhaps these last will be in as 

 good time as if written earlier. On 

 page .390 we had our honey ali, graded 

 and crated in nice shape, ready for 

 sale at any time that we could get 

 l^rices to meet our views as to the 

 value thereof. How to best sell a 

 given production is a question of vital 

 importance. Many seem to overlook 

 this fact, and by their actions tell us 

 tiiat a large production is about all 

 they are after. I have known parties 

 to pride themselves about the large 

 production of butter they could get 

 from a given number of cows, hurry- 

 ing it off to market in an unseasona- 

 ble time, and selling it at a low figure, 

 thereby realizing less for their large 

 production tiian did their more saga- 

 cious neighbors with % the amount. 

 Just so honey is often forced upon the 

 market at a low price by those not 

 posted, wliile the live bee-keeper will 

 get nearly I3 more for his crop from 

 having a full knowledge of the value 

 of his production. 



Hence, after producing a crop of 

 honey, the next tiling to do is to thor- 

 oughly post ourselves regarding its 

 value. We frequently see men sell- 

 ing nice honey at 12 to 14 cents per 

 lb., when the same article was worth 

 IS, claiming that the price they sold 

 at was all they could get for it at the 

 market tliey were in. This might be 

 so, but the "cause of so doing was, in 

 not being posted regarding the price 

 paid in other markets. Much lioney 

 is yearly sold in Syracuse, N. Y., at 

 quite a low ligure, while if the person 

 selling was posted regarding tlie value 

 of lioney in Boston, New York and 

 Philadelphia, such sales would not be 

 made. Thus, these sales by parties 

 not posted keeps the market so low 

 that the wide-awake bee-keeper has 

 no cliance to place his production in a 

 market near home. But how shall 

 we ascertain the true value of our 

 honey y By reading ttie Bee Jouu- 

 NAL we can find out the market quo- 

 tations in the different cities about 

 us. Thus, if New York quotes honey 

 at 20 cents per lb., our product is 

 worth that less the expense of getting 

 it there, and the commission charged 

 by the merchant we consign it to. 

 Por example : to get the best express 

 rates I go to Syracuse, N. Y., where 

 the rate of $1 for 100 lbs. is given on 

 honey to New York City. As this is 

 gross weight, the weight of the crates 



must be deducted, by which we find 

 that it costs about SI for every 85 lbs. 

 of honey— say II4' cts. per lb.— so it 

 will be sure to cover all expenses of 

 getting to market. Next deduct 10 

 per cent, for selling (as this is the 

 price charged by most commission 

 merchants), and we have 2 cents more, 

 or 334 cents in all, which taken from 

 20 cents, shyws that the actual value 

 of our honey at b.ome is Ifr'r^ cents as 

 compared with the New York market. 

 Now figure on Chicago, Boston and 

 other markets, and see if any of these 

 will do any better, and in this way 

 you can find out the highest value of 

 your crop, and where it will pay you 

 best to ship, thus being tlioroughly 

 posted in the matter. Flaving done 

 this, we are prepared to sell at home 

 or abroad. 



Pirst, then. I will speak of selling 

 at home. Having ascertained the 

 value of our honey, we go to our near- 

 est town with an average sample of 

 our honey, and ask our grocer what 

 he can pay for honey. If he can pay 

 cash down as much into 1 cent per lb. 

 as I have found it to be worth by the 

 above line of reasoning, I sell "it to 

 him. My reasons for so doing have 

 been, that in case of selling outright 

 I have the money at my disposal, and 

 can often invest it so as to make more 

 than the penny a pound would amount 

 to before'a return was made from tbe 

 commission man, for selling on com- 

 mission sometimes proves to be a 

 slow process of disposing of our pro- 

 duction. If our grocer does not offer 

 us the price we have figured our honey 

 to be worth, show him the quotations, 

 and our line of reasoning, which will 

 often change his opinion by convinc- 

 ing him that we are not trying to beat 

 him, nor get more tlian our lioney is 

 really worth. Thus we make a tour 

 through all the towns about us, and 

 if we produce but a few hundred lbs., 

 all can be disposed of, providing our 

 friend who " sells for a song " has not 

 been ahead of us. If we are given to 

 peddling, there is but little trouble in 

 selling quite a large crop throughout 

 the surrounding country, but in this 

 case the bee-keeper needs cousidera- 

 ble time at his command." The price 

 of the honey should also be put enough 

 higher than we have proven the real 

 value to be, to cover all the necessary 

 expenses of retailing our crop. In 

 selling in this way, a good plan is to 

 go over the route, or send a boy a 

 week in advance of the time we ex- 

 pect to sell, with a little honey as a 

 sample, and printed slips telling what 

 flowers the honey is made from, the 

 price per lb., and when we shall come 

 around with it for sale. Let the boy 

 leave a small piece of honey at each 

 house and one of the printed slips, 

 and upon going around you will find 

 the way opened for quite an extensive 

 sale of honey in a retail way. Several 

 years ago, being short of money to pay 

 my taxes, and having a little second 

 quality honey on hand, I started out 

 on the above plan, to see if I coukl 

 not meet this certainty ("taxes"). 

 which is classed with " death " as be- 

 ing the only two certain things in this 

 life. I left a sample and slip at 30 

 houses, which numbered 115 inhabi- 



tants. According to the time ap- 

 pointed on the slips I was there with 

 the honey, and the result showed 153 

 lbs. sold, or an average of Uj lbs. to 

 each person, thereby securing enough 

 to meet the collector's bill and some to j 

 spare. However, as 1 dislike to ped- 1 

 die, I generally adopt other methods 1 

 of sale ; yet when a person has the 

 tact to sell, there is no way more 

 profitable than this in ray humble 

 opinion. My next will be selling in 

 large cities and shipping on commis- 

 sion. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



This Season's Honey Crop, etc. 



J. R. BAKER. 



My bees have not done so well up to 

 this time, this season, as they did last. 

 They have gathered enough honey to 

 fill their brood chambers chock-full, 

 and have stored a good deal of sur- 

 plus ; and they are now working very 

 industriously. Should the frost be 

 late in coming, and the weather be 

 propitious from this time on, I shall 

 have a very fair crop. As "hope is 

 the anchor of the soul," I shall use it 

 for my consolation until I realize its 

 full fruition, or be compelled to take 

 my place in the ranks of those who 

 have had hope so long deferred that 

 the heart has become sick. 



And now, I have a little joke to tell 

 on myself, and a word of encourage- 

 ment" for the ladies who contemplate 

 engaging in apiculture. Mrs. Ellen 

 Gray, who lives a fourth of a mile 

 from where I keep part of my bees, 

 concluded last fall that she would like 

 bee-keeping, and asked me to sell her 

 several colonies. I let her have 20 

 colonies in 10 frame Langstrotli hives, 

 for whicli she paid me eight dollars 

 each. She knew positively nothing 

 about the business, only what little 

 she had gathered from a visit or two 

 to my apiary, and the little she gleaned 

 from my conversation on the subject, 

 for you know bee-keepers will talk, 

 and talk bees and honey, too. Well, 

 when I made the sale of the 20 colonies 

 to the lady, part of the contract was 

 that I should give her such advice and 

 instruction as 1 tliought necessary to 

 assist her to a successful career as an 

 apiculturist. All the bees, both hers 

 and mine, were put in one cellar for 

 the winter, and when spring came and 

 the cheerful sunshine began to warm 

 tliis part of the world into new life ; 

 when the blue birds cheered our hearts 

 with their merry notes at the funeral 

 of old winter, and the buds of the wil- 

 low and maple and elm commenced to 

 unfold themselves under the inviting 

 warmth of the king of day, the lady 

 bee-keeper and myself commenced to 

 talk bees with a relish that only those 

 can appreciate who revel in the songs 

 of birds and the beauty of opening 

 flowers and the merry hum of the 

 tireless bees, as they sweep over 

 mountain and valley, garnering the 

 precfous nectar that is poured (Mit in 

 amber drops from the great aim ex- 

 haustless storehouse of nature. 



I performed my part of the work as 



