THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



131 



in the granulated form, and that the Dadants 

 have made a success of marketing it in this 

 form. We, too, have sold some honey put 

 up in this manner. But, in this country, 

 there is a dislike of candied honey. We 

 don't think it is altogether prejudice, as our 

 friend Dadant puts it. Bee keepers know 

 that honey will granulate ; there can be no 

 prejudice in their minds against it, yet they 

 2}refer honey in the liquid state. Customers 

 like to buy articles of food all ready for use. 

 The fish peddler siiigs : " Fresh fish ; Mack- 

 inaw trout; all ready, with the insides out.'^ 

 As a rule, Americans " don't like to bother." 

 They would rather pay a few cents more for 

 an article and have it all ready for use. 

 Then, again, the specialist, be he fish peddler 

 or bee keeper, can prepare his products for 

 use more quickly, cheaply and perfectly 

 than can the inexperienced housewife. We 

 would put our extracted upon the market in 

 the liquid form, putting on explanatory 

 labels. Then, if it shoidd granulate before 

 it was all used, customers would know what 

 to do. By reference to the correspondence 

 in this issue it will be seen that, by having 

 honey thoroughly ripened, bringing it to the 

 boiling point, then sealing it up while hot, 

 granulation may be prevented. We believe 

 it is admitted, however, that this heating 

 process injures the flavor of the honey. 



For years, the books have said that granu- 

 lation was a proof of purity. This is not 

 true. A mixture that is two-thirds glucose, 

 and one-third honey, will candy solid in cold 

 weather as we know by actual" experiment. 



M. A. Kelley, in the Apiculturist, says : "A 

 crying need of the trade in liquid honey is 

 some kind of cheap receptacle to retail a 

 pound or two up to about ten. It should 

 compare in cheapness with the one-piece 

 section. As material of which to make them 

 how would waxed paper do ? " Mr. Kelley 

 is correct. A cheap package is tlie need of 

 the extracted honey trade. Glass is all right, 

 except that it costs so much. We have often 

 thought of using paper ; the trouljle is that 

 it hides the honey ; and is lacking in strength. 

 Until something better comes along we must 

 be content with tin and glass for the retail 

 trade. Tin, if the honey is to be sold granu- 

 lated ; glass, if in the liquid form. Some- 

 thing can be done in the way of putting up 

 honey in packages that can be utilized by 

 the purchaser ; but there is a limit to this. 

 Baking powder has been put up in sugar 

 bowls, and this plan is all right until every- 



body has a sugar bowl. Then it must be 

 offered in a fancy glass pitcher. Soon all 

 are supplied with i)itchers, and that dodge is 

 " played out." Glass fruit jars and tin pails 

 come the nearest to being staple articles of 

 value after emptied of their contents, but 

 the package so cheap that it may be thrown 

 away is the one we are looking for, but we 

 fear we shall look a long time. 



" MABKETING " TO BE OUE NEXT SPECIAL TOPIC. 



To raise a good crop of honey cheaply, 

 and to sell it to the best advantage, are two 

 quite distinct processes ; requiring greatly 

 varying qualifications. Seldom do we find 

 all of these qualifications, in the highest de- 

 gree, combined in one person. W'e believe 

 the majority of l)ee-keepers are better bee- 

 keepers than they are business men ; or, per- 

 haps, salesmen is more nearly the proper 

 word to use. Many of them can't get far 

 enough awsvy from a bee hive to sell the hon- 

 ey that has been stored in it. Every energy 

 is bent to the securing of a great crop ; hav- 

 ing secured it, many a bee-keeper is actually 

 puzzled as to how to put it upon the market 

 in the best shape, and how or where to sell it. 

 Mr. McKnight says " the product of no other 

 industry is put upon the market in such a 

 cumbrous, uncouth and slovenly form." 

 This may seem a little over-drawn, but it is 

 worth thinking of. The improvements in 

 the last few years, however, have been very 

 great, and we believe that this number of 

 the Review contains the best that is known 

 upon the subject. 



We will suppose the honey is all ready for 

 the market — put up in the most approved 

 style, considering the market to which it is 

 to go — how shall it be sold and who shall sell 

 it ? Some men are born salesmen. To these 

 there is no question as to tvho shall sell their 

 honey ; that is, if they are so situated that 

 they can visit, personally, the market in which 

 they wish to sell. If a man is a poor sales- 

 man, the best thiug he can do, unless he can 

 learn to sell honey, is to employ some expert 

 to sell his honey for him. This means that 

 some commission man will handle it, or else 

 that it will be sold so cheaply that the buyer 

 can afford to spend his time in finding cus- 

 tomers. 



Last winter, at the Mich. State Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Convention, Dr. A. B. Mason told how 

 two men and a woman sold thousands of 

 pounds of honey in large cities. One man, 



