128 THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



too much of a task for such a busy man as I was. By this time the 

 wholesale grocerymen were interested in honey and I sold to them 

 for hundreds of miles around. This way of disposing of my honey 

 crop worked very well for a long' time, but by-and-by the jobbers got 

 much iiiterested and I gradually shifted my business into their hands, 

 \vhere there is much less trouble collecting, but I still hold to many 

 of my old wholesale grocerymen who have been good pay customers. 

 I have traveled thousands of miles extending the sales of mv honev, 

 and exhibited at hundreds of fairs. 



How I Sell Honey Direct to the Consumer. 



By LEON C. WHEELER, Barryton, Mich. 

 ^^* HAVE made a success of selling my hone}- direct to the con- 

 Tl sumer, and although part of my methods are such as most bee- 

 keepers would not be able to use, still much of them could be 

 carried out by most any one. T have made it a practice ever since 1 

 started in the business to sell all my honey to the consumer, with the 

 exception of what the merchants sell for me, and usually about live 

 to fifteen hundred pounds which is put up in glass and sold to fanc}^ 

 dealers in the city. 



I'll tell you first how I sell honey among my neighbors. When I 

 first went into the business I began by peddling out the honey to the 

 neighbors, and as I was a new beginner striking in on another man's 

 territory, I had hard work to get started. especiall\' as I was asking 

 two cents per pound more than the other fellow. 1 had the goods 

 that would fill the bill, however, and I was not afraid to blow my own 

 horn, so I managed to get a little sold that year and the next year it 

 was easier. I was very careful not to sell anything that \A'as not first 

 class honey, and soon I had plenty of customers who were willing to 

 pay me the extra price. Now I very seldom do any peddling, as they 

 come to the house to get it. 



Soon I began to want a wider range to my market, so I began 

 to send honey to Grand Rapids put up in gallon cans. About the 

 same time I commenced to exhibit honey at Grand Rapids, and 1 

 found I could sell a large amount of honey direct from the exhibit at 

 fancy prices, so I began to make the fairs regularly. In lhe mean- 

 time I was building up a fine trade in Grand Rapids on a good grade 

 of dark honey, which is worth a lot to me, as always before that was 

 the hardest honey to sell. I have a cousin living there who works on 

 the street railway, and he sells the honey for me, mostl\' Xn the boys 

 on the street cars. Selling at the fairs has put me in touch with a 

 great many men who want something good and are willing to pa>' a 

 good price for it if it suits. These I keep track of and tr_\- as far as 

 possible to supply them every year. 



