456 THE BEEKEEPERS' REVIEW 



Just as soon as a can of honey commences to granulate the housewife is 

 satisfied she has been fleeced and has gotten sugar syrup instead of honey. 



That is especially true of Alfalfa honey. If Alfalfa honey goes on the table 

 of a consumer in the eastern states where the consumer is used to a stronger 

 flavored honey and it then granulates in a few days the customer is sure it is 

 not honey. 



For those two reasons, its mild flavor and its tendency to granulate so 

 soon I do not attempt to sell it alone. I first have to blend it with a stronger 

 flavored honey. I don't know how it is here in Colorado but in the vicinity of 

 Chicago it is a favorite stunt of a whole lot of beekeepers to see who can get 

 the least money for their honey. Beekeepers within 100 miles of Chicago will 

 send their finest clover and basswood honey to Chicago, express prepaid for 

 $1.25 for a 10 pound can. We also have some that go out and sell by house 

 to house soliciting for $1.00 for a ten pound can of extracted honey. Again I 

 have heard beekeepers get up in a convention and tell how much they sold 

 honey for to their grocer and then when some one would come to their home 

 to get some honey they would let them have it at the same price as the grocer 

 paid. What kind of a chance has that grocer got to sell honey? If you take 

 those same beekeepers to task for it they will say it is just as easy to sell it 

 to the consumer as the grocer so why should they ask the consumer more 

 than the grocer. Now let's see what effect such practices have on the 

 honey market. Here is a neighborhood that will use one hundred pounds of 

 honey during the winter. Mrs. C. through a friend secures a can of that cheap 

 honey. She tells the balance of her neighbors how much she paid for it but 

 she doesn't know the party's name who has it so none of the rest get any. Here 

 comes a beekeeper selling his honey house to house at the retail price, which 

 is what it is worth. He remembers selling one hundred pounds in this certain 

 little neighborhood last year. When he comes to sell them some more this 

 year what happens? Oh they will tell him, Mrs. C. got a can for $1.25, we 

 won't pay you $1.75 for it. They do not know where and would not send if 

 they did know so they do without honey that winter. Mr. Cheap Beekeeper 

 sold ten pounds of honey and killed the sale of ninety pounds more. The 

 only thing that surprises me is that we sell as much honey as we do. The 

 grocer is the best friend we have today, so let's help him instead of hindering. 

 The biggest thing we can do is to not undersell him. You can talk about edu- 

 cating the consumer. The one to educate is the producer. How many pro- 

 ducers can tell you what it costs a pound to put honey on the consumer's table? 

 I am talking to producers who have not retailed their crop. Can you by acting 

 the part of the middleman put honey on the table of the consumer at a less 

 cost than it can be sold through the general channel, which is the retail 

 grocery ? 



If you can and you are giving the consumer an article as good or better 

 than she has been getting, then who does that saving belong to ? The con- 

 sumer is getting her money's worth and is well satisfied, so that is settled. 

 How much is the beekeeper's time worth to go out and sell honey ? How much 

 is your time worth in the bee-yard? Is it not worth as much as in selling 

 honey? 



I say most assuredly it is. You may say it takes years to learn how to 

 keep bees. I suppose you can go out and be a full fledged honey salesman in 

 a day. If you think so I would advise you to go out and see what kind of a 

 salesman you are. In summing up just remember this: put out a strictly first 



