

ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



75 - 



Advertise, and advertise right, is the 

 plan. Plan your campaign carefully, 

 and cover your territory in such a way 

 that the greatest number possible know 

 what you have to sell, and then be 

 sure to deliver the goods as advertised. 

 If a customer 'finds fault, tell him to 

 send the honey right back, and be sure 

 to send him his money back wifh no 

 grumbling, and when you get the 

 honey, if you have sent him something 

 wrong, send him an equal amount of 

 real goods with your apology, and if 

 he is pleased he can pay for it, if not 

 it is a present. I never failed to get 

 my pay and get a customer, too, that 

 is worth all the honey cost as an ad- 

 vertisement. . 



Customers are not dispos'ed to be 

 kickers unless there is cause for kick- 

 ing. Don't quarrel with them, but as- 

 sume they are right, and it will be 

 better for trade even if you do feel a 

 little out of humor. 



But where does co-operation come 

 in? All I have said applies to associa- 

 tions as individuals. Societies can 

 unite in the expense of advertising, and 

 do what an individual could not. 



A tax of $1.00 per member is a small 

 tax, but if the society had 500 mem- 

 bers, that would be quite a fund, and 

 $500.00 would be a heavy tax on the in- 

 dividual. 



This is no experiment. Two States. 

 Colorado and Michigan, are doing It, 

 and reaping the reward — why cannot 

 others do it?. 



How to do it is for you to deter- 

 mine. 



The Colorado plan is to charge up 

 to each producer his pro rata of ex- 

 penses according to the amount of 

 honey sold through the Association. 



Michigan has another plan by which 

 any prospective ibuyer has placed in 

 his hands a list of members with the 

 amount and kind of honey produced, 

 with advice to buy of the nearest one. 



California has a successful Associa- 

 tion, and Arizona has one also. These 

 are both stock companies, and get 

 funds by membership dues. 



California charges 5 per cent on 

 sales to cover expenses. 



Arizona lays a tax on all cans bought 

 through the Association. 



I have been a member of both, and, 

 in fact, of all three of the last-named 

 Associations, and all work well, but 



I like best the Colorado plan of charg- 

 ing actual expense to members. 



Very much can be done through co- 

 operation. Co-operation means mutual 

 help — the greatest good to the greatest 

 number. It calls for patriotism, public 

 spirit, and, in a measure, self-denial. 



There is among some a desire for 

 co-operation that is much like the In- 

 dian and white man who went hunting 

 together; you have all heard the story, 

 no doubt, a turkey and crow being the 

 result of the hunt. Trouble came over 

 the division of the spoils; the white 

 man said to the Indian: "I'll take the 

 turkey and you may take the crow; 

 or, you may take the crow and I'll take 

 the turkey." This confused the Indian 

 for some time, but finally he says: 

 "Indian no get turkey." 



Too many are like the white man, 

 and can see the turkey only, or, in 

 other words, they can see no advan- 

 tage in co-operation unless it be to 

 squeeze a higher price from the con- 

 sumer by controlling the market. 



If you have an idea that co-opera- 

 tion is a combination so that j"ou can 

 boost prices up, you would better keep 

 out of it. What better would that be 

 than any other trust? If we wanted to 

 bo,ost prices and get a cinch on the 

 trade, we would be no better than the 

 Standard Oil people, or any other big 

 trust, and I have no patience with that 

 kind of thing at all. 



Have we no higher conception of co- 

 operation than that? What are our 

 high ideals of brotherly fellowship, 

 and equal chance for everybody, we so 

 often boast of? 



This spirit, if carried out to its legit- 

 imate ending, would suppress all small 

 bee-keepers and throw the whole bee- 

 business into a few Morgans and Car- 

 negies among us. 



Co-operation can help us in three 

 ways — in buying our supplies, selling 

 our products, and defending our inter- 

 ests from enemies without and within. 



This last is so well done by the "Na- 

 tional" that we can ignore it for the 

 present. The selling point seems to be 

 the more important, therefore, let us 

 confine our thoughts to this one point. 



If we can co-operate in advertising 

 and let the consumer know wfhat we 

 have to sell, and what we will ask 

 for it, instead of having to pay 4 

 cents for a bottle to get it to him, 

 teach Jiim to buy it in large packages. 



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