564 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Sept. S, 1901. 



I Contributed Articles. ^ 



Hints on Hired Help in tlie Apiary. 



BY HOMER H. HVDK. 



TO the bee-keeper who has an extensive system of out- 

 apiaries, or is extensively engaged in queen-rearing, 

 the question of hired help is a very important one. I 

 believe I have had as large experience with hired help as 

 the next man. 



It is a very difficult matter to get just the right man, 

 for a great many reasons. The right man is one that is 

 not afraid of stings — one that even when the bees do sting 

 him does not care ; one that is thoroughly immune from | 

 the poison of the bee-sting. The right man must be indus- 

 trious, not afraid of work, one that will do as much, accord- 

 ing to his ability, when you are away as he will when you 

 are around. He must not object to any kind of work that 

 you may put him to. He should not always be looking to 

 see what time it is, but, on the other hand, should work 

 steadily on until the proper time, and then quit. The best 

 man does not use tobacco in any shape, as it is very injuri- 

 ous, especially to the nerves. The right man will not use 

 intoxicating drinks even in the lightest form. The right 

 man is one that is thoroughly moral, and strictly a gentle- 

 man. The best man is an ingenious fellow, one that is 

 quick to learn and will " catch on;" one that when told 

 what and how to do a thing does it just as his employer 

 directs him do it. 



r — : The man who reads will be the most useful. Let me 

 quote the following from W. L- Coggshall : 



"The man who reads is the man who succeeds. The 

 young man who does not read never amounts to much in 

 my employ." 



I can heartily endorse Mr. Coggshall's views. 



The right man is careful, painstaking, one that 

 is ever ready to further his employer's interests. 



A man that has all the qualities above enumer- 

 ated will be a success, and his services will com- 

 mand the highest price. 



I once had a man that you could show nothing, 

 and /lis plan was always the best. He would 

 "mouth around," and half do his work, unless his 

 plan was adopted. He was also a man that when 

 we went out to work considered himself the boss, 

 simply because he was older than I was. He did 

 not seem to realize that while I was much younger 

 in years I was much his superior when it came to 

 bees. 



Another man once in our employ was very 

 careless, although industrious ; he would scatter 

 things about and lose them. We had to furnish 

 him a new veil about every week, to say nothing 

 of the other tools lost. He also seemed to think 

 that when put on a piece of work it was your bus- 

 iness to pitch in and help, no matter what your 

 other duties were. 



The owner or manager always has numerous 

 little duties to perform, and numerous little ends 

 to keep up, to say nothing of the management, and 

 it is often necessary to put your men at something 

 while you are attending to these things. 



The right man will not want too many days 

 off, and will want to work all his time. 



On the side of the employer— he should treat 

 his help fairly and honorably ; he should be social 

 and pleasant to all his men ; he should treat them 

 right, and so well that he gains their entire confi- 

 dence, esteem, and respect. Where a man is so 

 treated he will be much more useful, agreeable, and 

 ready to further his employer's interests. 



There is very much more that could be said on 

 the subject, which I will leave for some future time. 

 Williamson Co., Tex. 



The Premiums offered this week are well worth 

 .working for. Look at them. 



Tlie Art of Bottling and Selling Honey. 



HV |. C. WALI.KN.Mi;%ER. 



HAVING had an experience of eight years in bottling a 

 dozen different kinds of honey in a dozen different 

 kinds of packages or containers, I thought I would 

 give the benefit of my somewhat varied experience to the 

 readers, that they might possibly profit by avoiding the 

 usual mistakes of beginners in using unsalable packages. 



I have bottled honey from alfalfa, basswood, willow- 

 herb, white clover, California sage, Florida mangrove, saw 

 and cabbage palmetto, wild aster, and smartweed (or hearts- 

 ease) mixed ; dry-weather honey-vine, and fall flowers. 

 For containers I have used pint and quart Masons, costing 

 SO and 60 cents per dozen ; 6 and 8 oz., and 1 and 2 

 pound square flint-glass jars, costing $5.70 and S7.S0 per 

 gross (corks included); 13 and 16 oz. jelly-glasses; 'j-gallon 

 fruit-tablet jars costing S cents each ; lard-buckets ; glass 

 bowls, and Root's No. 25 round flint-glass one-pound jars — 

 quite a variety to select from. 



I found Root's No. 25 jar the best and quickest seller of 

 all, because, after being emptied, it could be used as a self- 

 sealer for jelly, preserves, jams, etc.; only flint-glass jars 

 should be used, as they show the honey off to perfection. 

 Amber honey will sell nearly as well in quart Masons on 

 account of the universal use of the package; but it is hard 

 to sell 3 pounds of honey to every-day consumers. Most 

 people prefer a small, cheap package. Our market demands 

 a honey of light or light amber color, heavy body, mild 

 flavor, and fine bouquet or aroma. It does not pay to bottle 

 a poor grade of honey. The people generally get accus- 

 tomed to the kind of honey produced in their own locality. 

 I found this out to my sorrow when I tried to sell three bar- 

 rels of mangrove and palmetto honey from Florida, 

 although I thought it fine indeed. This matter of selection 

 is very important. If you happen to run short of honey, 

 and must buy. procure an article as near like your own as 

 possible. I have found that patrons grow suspicious when 

 they get different honey. I find honey from white clover, 

 dry-weather honey-vine, and fall flowers, to give the best 

 satisfaction for bottling, in my locality. 



HIS LKJIEFTIXI 



