260 THE BEEKEEPERS' REVIEW 



the co-operative idea. The beekeeper who has made a success in 

 his local market of selling all his honey, as well as that bought of 

 other beekeepers, would be the last man to profit by joining a co-op- 

 erative society for selling honey at wholesale. The only ones who 

 would profit from a national co-operative society are the beekeepers 

 who have no home market within reach and who cannot sell to 

 other beekeepers. This limits the possible advantages to a small 

 number. 



In the development of a home market, many beekeepers err 

 in selling only honey of the type which they themselves produce. 

 For example, a comb-honey producer often does not sell any 

 extracted honey, although some of his customers doubtless prefer 

 it. Since the same amount of canvassing would sell either comb, 

 table-extracted or cooking-extracted honey it would be worth a 

 trial to sell all three kinds and possibly different grades of each to 

 suit the individual demands. 



Every beekeeper knows that it is difficult to get the same honey 

 year after year. The desirability of selling blended extracted honey 

 rather than honey of only one source, in order to overcome this 

 variation, is often overlooked. Beekeepers are highly educated in 

 judging honeys, know the flavors of the various kinds and have 

 their preferences. They often have the mistaken notion that they 

 must educate their customers to this standard. Let us examine 

 another table commodity to get the proper prospective. There are 

 those who are just as particular about teas as we are about honey. 

 The person educated in the flavors of teas knows the various types 

 of teas, recognizes their flavors and is most particular about the 

 kind he uses. By the expenditure of the necessary time and effort 

 we, too, could become educated in tea flavors. We are not, simply 

 because we have no interest in such things and do not think it 

 worth while. Apply this idea to the average honey eater and it is 

 evident that he knows nothing about honey flavors and cares less. 

 Most of us do not like the variations in unblended teas and all we 

 ask is that we shall get the same each time we buy a package. 

 We lose the delicacy of flavor but are willing to do this for we 

 dislike changes in food standards. The honey consumer asks only 

 that we shall not experiment on his palate by offering him a differ- 

 ent flavor every time we sell him honey. We must, to satisfy the 

 average consumer, to whom we are most anxious to sell, iron out 

 the variations in flavor by blending. What is here advocated is 

 now being practiced by all of the successful bottlers of honey for 

 the large markets, so that it is no new idea. 



Who Should Develop These Markets? — House-to-house selling 



