ILLINOIS STATE BEE KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



201 



of selling. Never having had occasion 

 to sell in this way, it is largely a mat- 

 ter of theory with me, but I am con- 

 vinced that customers thus gained 

 will purchase of you year after year. 

 A number of bee-keepers have obtain- 

 ed good results from advertising in 

 their local papers. 



There is one thought I desire to 

 very strongly impress upon you. If 

 you have a bountiful crop, do not get 

 panicky about it, and offer to sell re- 

 gardless of price. It is never necessary 

 to do so. Let bee-keepers be deter- 

 mined to obtain a fair price, and not 

 compete against each other unfairly, 

 and the normal demand will be well 

 supplied. If there is a surplus over 

 and above, for which there is no de- 

 mand, at a fair price, carry it over 

 to a year of scarcity. You will thus 

 have nearly as much money as though 

 you sacrificed the whole crop; you 

 will have been spared the real mis- 

 fortune to yourself of having brokeii 

 and ruined your market, and you will 

 still have the surplus over and above 

 what is required to fill the normal de- 

 mand, to supply your market in years 

 of scaracity that are sure to follow. 



Suppose a bee-keeper's normal crop 

 is 10,000 pounds, and in normal years 

 the price is 8 cents per pound whole- 

 sale, his income from the honey crop 

 will be $800.00. Suppose he obtains 

 a bountiful crop of say 1,500 pounds 

 or 50 per cent greater than the normal 

 from the same number of bees. A 

 slight decrease in price in such sea- 

 son of bountiful crop would be no in- 

 justice to the bee-keeper because the 

 additional expense and labor of pro- 

 ducin it is less, in proportion, than 

 that of producing a normal crop. A 

 slight decrease in price might also be 

 charged to the increased supply, but 

 don't let us ever have a panic, be- 

 cause of a bountiful crop, and lose all 

 the latent benefits that nature has 

 showered upon us. If we are to drop 

 the price from 8 cents in the normal 

 year to 6 cents in the bountiful sea- 

 son, when there is an increased crop 

 of 50 per cent, we have lost every ad- 

 vantage that was ours, but which has 

 been too often sold for a "mess of 

 pottage." Therefore, I emphasize in 

 the most emphatic manner that you 

 try not to sell to a glutted or unwil- 

 ling market, but carry over that which 

 may .not be sold for a fair price, and 

 in the meantime, keep busy in de- 



veloping new markets, and outlets 

 for the increased production. A good 

 rule is to sell where there is an anx- 

 iety to purchase, and waste no time 

 trying to sell where there is apathy, 

 and indifference, and a bearish ten- 

 dency as to purchasing. 



The good services of the jobber and 

 wholesaler are always to be recognized, 

 and it is certainly no reflection on 

 them, to advise bee-keepers to ■ de- 

 velop their home market, and supply 

 it fully before shipping to the larger 

 centers of consumption. If the home 

 market is fully supplied, there will 

 be less honey to be disposed of by 

 the jobber, ' it is true, but if the 

 jobber's volume of business is there- 

 by lessened, he is compensated by 

 better prices and profits on the small- 

 er trade. - 



I would beg of bee-keepers to avoid 

 the tendency to get into a scramble, 

 and cut down the price of their honey 

 to ruinously low figures in order to 

 get the preference of sale away from 

 other bee-keepers. I have but recent- 

 ly been informed of a case where a 

 bee-keeper sent a consignment of 

 honey to a commission merchant with 

 instructions to sell at 10 cents per 

 pound if it could be obtained, and for 

 less if necessary to effect a quick 

 sale. There is certainly no profit in 

 producing fancy comb honey at 10 

 cents per pound, out of which is to 

 be paid, freight, commission, and for 

 sections, foundation and labor. The 

 consumer is sure to pay from 15 to 

 25 cents per section for fancy honey 

 before it reaches his table, and 10 

 cents for fancy comb honey with 

 charges and cost of supplies out, ' 

 leaves the producer but a little over 

 7 cents per section. The difference 

 between about 7 cents and 15 to 25 

 cents per section goes to the jobber 

 and retailer by way of trifling ex- 

 penses and big profits to the non-pro- 

 ducer of the goods, by reason of the 

 conditions created, in large part, by 

 the bee-keeper who is determined to 

 sell, whether he makes any profits or 

 not. ■■,,■',.:;■.■; 



Let me urge you, brother bee-keep- 

 ers, to follow the example and teach- 

 ings of a few of the craft, who have, as 

 far as possible, solved the problem of 

 marketing their product you have bat- 

 tled against great odds. Tou have 

 done well to persistently remain up- 

 on the firing line until your crop of 



