114 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



E-xpert Advice. 



I doubt if it is gfenerally known that 

 there are men who go about the country 

 giving expert advice to business men, 

 merchants, manufacturers, and the like. 

 Perhaps these men might be called 

 "systematizers." A manufacturer, for 

 instance, finds that his business is not 

 paying him, or not proving as profitable 

 as it ought. He has a good plant, is 

 doing a good volume of business, yet 

 there is a "screw loose" somewhere, and 

 he is unable to find it. He finally sends 

 for an expert. When he comes, every- 

 thing is thrown open to him. Nothing is 

 kept back. To conceal anything would 

 be like deceiving your physician. He 

 spends several days examining the busi- 

 ness in all of its details. He learns how, 

 and where, and for how much, and in 

 what quantities, the raw materials are 

 purchased. Then the process of manu- 

 facture is followed carefully through all 

 the details. Particular attention is paid 

 to the system employed, or the lack of 

 system, to the book keeping, etc. Then 

 comes the selling, the methods employed, 

 the advertising, etc. The employees may 

 not know that there is an expert among 

 them. He may work as an apprentice 

 in the different departments, and thus 

 get a true view of things, and not as 

 they would be performed if it were 

 known that some one was watching. 

 The leak is often found where least sus- 

 pected — sometimes there are several 

 leaks. It is well-nigh impossible to see 

 ourselves, or our business, as seen by 

 others. How many times have I seen 

 some man making a mistake in business. 

 I knew it was a mistake, just as well as 

 I could know anything of which I could 

 not be absolutely certain, but it was none 

 of my business to tell him so, and he 

 would have been offended had I done so. 

 On the other hand, I have often wished 

 that an expert in my line of business 

 could come in and '"look me over," and 

 tell me where I was making mistakes. 



These experts, working continually in 

 this line of work, become really and truly 

 experts in detecting the weak spots in a 



business. The wages that they com- 

 mand are something fabulous, but many 

 a man who has employed an expert 

 "systematizer," has found it money well- 

 spent. Sometimes it is necessary to 

 wholly reorganize the business, so to 

 speak, to introduce a different system, or 

 to make radical changes, and, again, the 

 trouble may arise from some simple 

 matter easily remedied, but not suspected. 

 In my travels about the country I often 

 come across apiaries that are in need of 

 expert advice, of a "systematizer." In 

 some instances, I could very easily and 

 quickly tell the owner where he was 

 making a mistake; in others it might re- 

 quire much examination and study to 

 locate the trouble; and it is quite likely 

 there will be cases beyond my ken. 

 There are hundreds of bee keepers all 

 over this country who are not successful 

 in the highest and truest sense. Their 

 lack of success comes from poor man- 

 agement. I don't mean deficient or im- 

 proper manipulation, as most bee keepers 

 understand that part of their business 

 better than anything else, but in not 

 taking the proper advantage of their 

 advantages. What is needed is some 

 radical change. It may be one of many 

 things. I have seen some instances in 

 which the best possible thing a man could 

 do would be to drop bee keeping. He 

 was not adapted to it, and it seriously 

 interfered with some other business to 

 which he was adapted. There are 

 localities in which successful, financial 

 bee keeping is practically impossible, and 

 it is a waste of time to attempt it. Many 

 might make a success of bee keeping if 

 they would keep enough bees. This is a 

 point that I have urged so persistently 

 that I fear some have tired of hearing 

 it, but it is a vital point most sadly 

 neglected. In order to keep more bees, 

 it may be necessary to adopt different 

 methods requiring less labor or "fussing." 

 A man may be trying to do all of the 

 work himself in the busy season when he 

 needs help— when he should be doing the 

 overseeing, and others the work. If a 

 man loses his bees winters he can never 



