M.UY 1, 1915 



357 



Conversations with Doolittle 



At Borodino, New York. 



THERE IS A DIFFERENCE IN MEN. 



S'' Say, Doolittle, why is it that 

 you always write so rosy about 

 beekeeping? Even when you tell 

 us about the hard work and stings 

 which come to the man keeping 



bees, you do it in a way that makes 

 the apiai'y look enchanted. I have been 

 fairly successful, and was quite encouraged 

 until I ran across an old beekeeper a few 

 days ago who gave me such a sorrowful 

 account of his life that I have been wonder- 

 ing if I had not made a mistake in starting 

 with bees at" all." 



Well, now, if I have put too rosy a side 

 to the world in mj- writings, I am sorry. I 

 have tried hard to keep myself down to just 

 what I have done, and to my results. Per- 

 haps I should have given only the financial 

 side; but when the fun side looms up high- 

 er above the horizon than the financial, it 

 is hard for me to pin myself down to the 

 sordid idea of dollars and cents only. Two 

 or three years after I started in beekeeping 

 1 became acquainted with two men who had 

 kept bees for a score or more of years. One 

 of them was as sour as a pickle. They told 

 me this man had opportunities when he 

 was younger, but he never seemed to take 

 advantage of them. Since he took up one 

 hive after another till there were hardly 

 two hives of the same pattern in his apiary, 

 so that when he wished to exchange frames 

 of brood or honey from one colony to an- 

 other, nothing would fit; and when it came 

 to supers they could not be exchanged, nor 

 would they fit more than one or two of any 

 of the hives. When swarms came out he 

 had nothing for them; and while he was 

 working to get things ready the swarm 

 would leave for parts unknown. The grass 

 and weeds grew up in front of the hive 

 entrances. Covers, bottom-boards, and hives 

 were thrown down and left as they were 

 thrown. In one corner of the beej'ard there 

 was a pile of hives, supers, and frames of 

 comb that had been there ten years or more 

 when I first visited him. The bottom of the 

 pile was pretty well rotted, and the combs 

 eaten witli moth-worms, while more was be- 

 ing added to the top each year. 



The other man was very different. His 

 hives were all of one pattern. All of his 

 covers, bottom-boards, and supers were a 

 perfect fit on the hives or on each other 

 when stored away in the bee-house. When 

 in use his hives always stood level while the 

 combs were being built so that all were true 



in the frames or the sections. Each row of 

 hives was as straight as a line could make 

 them. Did the action of frost during the 

 winter cause the stands to get " out of 

 wind," they were all straightened up during 

 the early days of spring. At the same 

 time every thing was picked up, so that the 

 grass and weeds could be cut and kept in 

 check later when the bees were at work on 

 the white-clover and basswood bloom. And 

 when doing this he was always whistling or 

 singing, to the enjoyment of himself and 

 all who saw or heard him. 



When I asked him if he did not get tired 

 of the almost endless round of work neces- 

 sary to keep liis apiary in apple-pie order, 

 he smiled and said, " Certainly not. It has 

 been a pleasure to me all these years, be- 

 cause I find my chief joy in the apiary," 



When I questioned him regarding the 

 financial side of the matter he replied, "That 

 is only secondary. What I mean is that 

 the man who takes pleasure and joy in the 

 apiary, ov any undertaking in life, for that 

 matter, puts enough spirit into it so that, 

 barring accidents, a financial success is cer- 

 tain to follow." Right here hinges the dif- 

 ference between the successful beekeeper 

 and the unsuccessful one. The former takes 

 the stings and the hard work with a smile 

 on his face as he looks forward toward the 

 . evening tide of life, when upon what he 

 has' accomplished shall be written "Well 

 done." In the meantime the other grows 

 bitter because he has used no personality in 

 any of his undertakings. The latter has the 

 same chance offered him in the beginning, 

 but looks only on the financial side, and 

 does every thing in a slipshod way. In 

 other words, he can't find the joy and pleas- 

 ure. 



In my farming days I remember a neigh- 

 bor who whistled and sang as he followed 

 the plow and harrow, even when he was so 

 tired that he could hardly put one foot be- 

 fore the other as quitting time drew near. 

 Sometimes he would stop a moment to look 

 at the straight furrows which had been 

 made during the day, and then across the 

 valley to the farmhouse among the blooming 

 apple-trees, where satisfaction would come 

 from the rest during the night. It is the 

 joy and pleasure in the doing which lifts 

 the man and his work out of the drudgery 

 so many are complaining about. You can 

 not find any great man who did not find his 

 greatness in the joy in his work. 



