1918 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



303 



makes no move away from you, then 

 quickly pry off the lid and show him 

 how thick it is. Urn ! Just extracted 

 and still warm. Fresh honey just 

 from the clean combs; all honey, 

 nothing but honey, with only the in- 

 digestible wax removed. Explain to 

 him (or her) that honey is only 30 

 cents per pound and wax is 40 cents, 

 and that is one reason why extracted 

 honey is cheaper than comb honey. 

 And what good is the wax in comb 

 honey? It is indigestible and per- 

 haps irritating to the intestines. 

 Don't we get enough coarse stuff 

 now with our war bread and all? Be 

 sure to give him a taste; a good big 

 taste, on a clean spoon. He will fur- 

 nish the spoon all right, or perchance 

 one of the children might be gl id lo 

 taste it and he will get the spoon. 



In general women don't like honey 

 and won't use it. They buy it only 

 for children or husband. So, remem- 

 bering this, if wife comes to the door 

 and husband comes in sight, get his 

 attention or the children's first of all, 

 for they always like honey and, if 

 they once taste it, and mamma has 

 the money, your pail is just about 

 sold. It's the little things that count, 

 and especially children where honey 

 is on hand. When the honey is sold 

 the remark can often be made to the 

 good wife that if she will use one 

 tablespoonful of honey to two loaves 

 of bread instead of sugar in setting 

 yeast the bread will keep moist 

 longer and the yeast will rise more 

 surely. One tablespoonful of honey 

 is a small amount, to be sure,, but its 

 use requires honey in the house, 

 which implies demand, and that is 

 what we are desirous of creating. 



It is not necessary or advisable to 

 be a knocker; but, if such substances 

 as Karo or maple syrup are men- 

 tioned it may be explained just what 

 "Karo" is and why it is so cheap. It's 

 made of corn, that's true, and corn is 

 as pure as nature made it; but sul- 

 phuric acid is not pure and whole- 

 some, and perhaps limestone is not 

 either. And Karo is made of these 

 things, too. Why, even the bees, as 

 fond of sweets as they are, in all my 

 experience would never even go near 

 "Karo." Pure maple sugar is whole- 

 some when made in a cleanly way. 

 When actually pure it is seldom 

 cheaper than honey, and also seldom 

 competes with honey because it 

 comes at a different season. 



2nd. For the city it seldom pays 

 here to canvass house to house. The 

 game has almost always been over- 

 worked by magazine artists, sewing 

 machine men and the like; and Mrs. 

 Housewife is sick and tired of run- 

 ning to the door. Also in the city 

 people buy in smaller quantities. In 

 the country, when a smaller quantity 

 is asked for, the customer should be 

 directed to the nearest reliable gro- 

 cer. Also, if only one canvass is to 

 be 'made each year, people who buy 

 honey should be told that their gro- 

 cer will handle the honey for them 

 if they need more later. But in the 

 city soliciting doesn't pay. Yet plac- 

 ing free samples on the front door 

 knobs can often advantageously be 

 done. If the children get them, so 

 much the better. But all free sam- 

 ples distributed at random should 



have a seal of paper pasted over the 

 cap so that the bottle cannot be 

 opened without breaking the seal. 

 In fact, now that the kaiser's agents 

 are said to be distributing ground 

 glass so freely in our canned foods, 

 this idea is not amiss to all our 

 honey packages. 



Free samples can also be given 

 away right at the grocer's in connec- 

 tion with a good window display. 

 They should contain 3 or 4 ounces, 

 net, in a labeled glass jar. But your 

 grocer, unless watched, is apt to give 

 them away in bunches, sell some, and 

 appropriate the others. The grocer 

 should be made to appreciate their 

 value to him and the necessity for 

 using each one efficiently. Perhaps 

 he will advertise in the newspaper 

 one free sample of honey with each 

 dollar purchase at his store on a 

 certain day. That is one very good 

 plan. In connection with the win- 

 dow display in the city, the one- 

 frame glass hive with some pretty 

 golden bees is very useful to attract 

 attention. A few of these hives will 

 be a good investment. If for no other 

 desirable quality, the golden bees are 

 invaluable here, for on a comb they 

 show up wonderfully. 



As a good label is necessary to 

 scientific selling, the discussion is in 

 order. First of all, most people do 

 not know the picture of a honeybee 

 from a humbug, so why disfigure our 

 labels? Also why put pictures of 

 ro ;es on our labels? Do roses se- 

 crete nectar? And straw skeps ! For 

 the love of common sense, forbear ! 

 Be original! If you cannot do better, 

 just print "Honey" in great big red 

 or blue letters in nice clear type, so 

 people can see it and will believe it 

 and buy it and go their way rejoic- 

 ing. All labels should show the net 

 weight of contents and the class of 

 honey, and if possible the principal 

 flowers from which contents were 

 gathered; also, directions for melting 

 in case of granulation, and the pro- 

 ducer's name and address. 



In selling to the grocer the gro- 

 cer's profit of at least 20 per cent 

 should be deducted from your retail 

 price. It costs most grocers this to 

 pay rent and expenses and make a 

 moderate profit. 



I advise all honey producers to 

 sell for cash only, R. O. G. If you 

 can't do this, call in the jobber and 

 give him his 10 or 15 per cent for 

 handling the credit risk. 



But remember, you can't be pro- 

 ducer, jobber, grocer, consumer and 

 all. You've got to stop somewhere 

 if you are to make money. Render 

 unto Caesar the things which are 

 Caesar's and unto the jobber and the 

 grocer the profits which are theirs, 

 and unto the consumer the best 

 grade of pure honey you can pro- 

 duce. 



Yakima, Washington. 



all unhampered by insignia of the 

 sex suddenly appeared among my 

 beehives. 



The apparition proved to be our 

 new neighbor, Fran Clara, in the per- 

 spiring flesh. We had met at her 

 artist husband's concert only two 

 months before. The audience was 

 on its feet clapping for a final en- 

 core when she spied me. 



"Ah !" she cried, "I know you. You 

 are the gen-tle-mann with the beans." 

 And Herr Professor, still seated in 

 front of the Club's baby grand, 

 smiled dutifully in my direction. 



The crowd around the platform 

 parted, and those ladies who had not 

 already discovered that I was the 

 only male present, were now eager to 

 observe one possessing money. In- 

 stinctively my hands sought refuge in 

 my beanless pockets. 



"Madame," I answered, "I haven't 

 a single bean." 



"Oh, yes; little yellow beans." Her 

 tone was most insistent. 



My Neighbor's Garden 



By C. D. Stuart. 



IT was summer I had just gone to 

 the apiary to swarm, artificially, 

 the colony containing my new 

 ten-dollar breeding queen, _ when 

 bridal-like draperies above flying feet 



Could Frau Clara have confused me 

 with the vegetable man, and was she 

 taking advantage of the occasion 

 publicly to rebuke me on the size of 

 my produce? I wondered. Or, wait! 

 she had specified yellow beans. In 

 her tongue, might not "bean" signify 

 a gold coin? The situation was per- 

 plexing; but I stood my ground. 



"I have no beans, neither little 

 beans nor yellow beans. I am an 

 apiarist," I concluded, with con- 

 scious pride. 



"Do I make meestake?" Frau 

 Clara appealed to the women. "The 

 gen-tle-mann he look always so," 

 holding up her arms as though in- 

 specting at close range a small plat- 

 ter. 



"She means bees," volunteered a re- 

 cently initiated neighbor. 



"Yes," beamed Frau Clara, "beans." 



And, having reached the end of our 

 conversational rope, the Magic Girl 

 came to the rescue by inviting them 

 to come to see our "beans," and taste 

 our honey. Whereupon Herr Profes- 

 sor beamed right out loud: 



"You haf piano, yes? Then I come 

 und blay for you." 



