ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



133 



onies when a competent man with 

 proper methods and equipment should 

 be able to handle 1,000 or more with- 

 out undue effort. 



As an illustration: I knew a bee- 

 keeper giving his whole time to about 

 sixty colonies. He was a man of long 

 experience, well-read in all the current 

 bee literature and of more than ordi- 

 nary intelligence. His successor 

 handles 400 colonies and spends on an 

 average about two days each week in 

 a systematized mode of manipulation, 

 his remaining time being given to 

 other business. Furthermore, his 

 average per colony is greater than that 

 of his predecessor. 



We see men working with odd sized 

 hives and in poorly constructed build- 

 ings. "We see them climbing trees for 

 swarms and we find them examining 

 one comb at a time, looking for cells 

 in order to prevent swarming. 



Sometimes we see three men en- 

 deavoring to remove honey fronn the 

 hive, one to lift out the combs, an- 

 other to brush and a third to hold the 

 smoker. A fourth should be added to 

 pull out stings. Such processes, al- 

 though prevalent in some of the larg- 

 est apiaries in the country, mean only 

 a ten per cent efficiency. 



For the purpose of discussion, effi- 

 ciency in bee-keeping map be con- 

 sidered under the following heads: 



1. Personal efficiency. 



2. Efficiency in system of manipu- 

 lation. 



3. Efficiency due to proper equip- 

 ment. 



Personal efficiency comes through 

 education. It presupposes not only a 

 knowledge of all phases of the busi- 

 ness but also the ability to plan, to or- 

 ganize one's forces, to arrange a defi- 

 nite system of procedure, and to 

 execute with promptness and dispatch 

 the work in hand. 



An efficient manipulation depends 

 upon the individual manager. It re- 

 quires a thoroughly worked out plan 

 of procedure based upon a thorough 

 knowledge of the business. It requires 

 the handling of the business in larger 

 units, and the elimination of processes 

 which are wasteful of time and labor. 



Efficiency in equipment demands the 

 use of the very best, though not neces- 

 sarily the most expensive, equipment 

 that can be obtained. It seldom pays 

 to be handicapped with a poor outfit. 

 The beeman's time is his most valu- 



able asset and it is often wasted in an 

 attempt to save expense. 



Efficiency requires uniformity in size 

 and style of hives. 



If your frames do not fit all your 

 hives and your cover won't go down, 

 and your floor boards were made to fit 

 something else, the result will be loss 

 of time and money. 



Proper equipment includes bee-tight 

 hives, bee-proof and mouse-proof 

 buildings. It includes a good work- 

 shop with its various necessary tools, 

 benches, tables, shelves, etc. — with a 

 place for everything and everything in 

 its place. 



Lastly, but not least, every apiary, 

 whether for comb or extracted honey, 

 should be equipped with an adequate 

 extracting outfit. Of course the be* 

 ginner may not be able to provide all 

 these. His time may not be of much 

 value at first, but, if he continues to 

 follow this vocation, he should strive 

 to better his methods and improve his 

 equipment. 



To the oldtime bee-keeper I have 

 little advice to give, but to the young 

 man entering this vocation, expecting 

 to make it a lifework, I would say, 

 go to the top. By all means get as 

 thorough an education as possible and 

 apply it in your work. A university 

 training is none too good for a bee- 

 keeper. It pays. It pays not only in 

 greater accomplishments in your par- 

 ticular line, but, also, it leads to larger 

 things in life. It places you upon an 

 equalitj^ with big men in other walks 

 of life. 



Is there any reason why a beeman 

 should not be the equal of a lawyer, a 

 banker, or the manager of a railway? 



Go to the top, but remember that 

 among the greatest factors of your 

 success will be efficiency and char- 

 acter and the ability to organize the 

 forces you control. 



Mr. France — Any discussion on this 

 subject of efficiency? 



I think it was two or three years ago, 

 in September, I was, as I had been do- 

 ing for several years, on my way to 

 Minnesota to be at the State Fair; I 

 took my son, now instructor in the 

 University, with me, that we might 

 learn something about the methods of 

 a certain bee-keeper, before we got to 

 the State Fair at Minnesota. 



We reached the most extensive bee- 

 keeper of the state, who was a man 

 shorter and lighter weight than my- 



