332 
Beekeeping 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE HOME MARKET 
Too many beekeepers ship their honey as soon as it is 
marketable to the chief honey markets. While there is 
demand in the wholesale markets under normal market 
conditions for all the honey that is shipped in, there are many 
beekeepers who could dispose of their own crops and even 
buy considerable honey from other beekeepers to sell in the 
local markets. Of course, the retail price should be con¬ 
siderably more than the wholesale price, and if the beekeeper 
does not have other work that brings him more than the 
retail profit he may well turn his attention to the develop¬ 
ment of his home market. He will probably find that his 
home town consumes little honey until he undertakes to 
advertise his products, but the experience of those who have 
tried it is that the per capita consumption of honey is easily 
increased to many times what it was formerly. Individual 
cases of success could easily be enumerated. If the bee¬ 
keeper is in a small town it is probably known to many of 
the inhabitants that he keeps bees and in a larger town or 
city he can easily let this be known without much cost for 
advertising. The consumer will have confidence in the 
purity of the honey if it is bought directly from the producer, 
and if the beekeeper will go from house to house letting the 
housewives sample his honey, he will not only sell hundreds 
of pounds at a better price than the wholesale price but will 
provide a good food as a substitute for the cheap jams and 
syrups so much used. 
To stimulate trade and create public comment, no better 
advertisement can be obtained than an observatory hive 
filled with bees. When such a hive is placed in a store 
window, the sidewalk is often blocked with the curious. 
Interest can be increased by giving an exhibition of handling 
bees or of extracting honey; the crowd will grow and people 
who have not tasted honey for years will remember that 
they are fond of it and will buy some. A peculiarity of honey 
is that it is usually easier to sell the second bottle or section 
