SEPTEMBER 15, 1912 



581 



General Correspondence 



CANDOR AMONG BEEMEN 



Why^Orders for Bees or Queens Should be Filled 

 Promptly, or a Postal Sent Explaining why De- 

 livery Can't be Made then, but Stating 

 when they can be 



BY LEWIS P. TANTON 



In a recent issue of GleaningS; business 

 candor Avas advocated, especially in rela- 

 tion to queen deliveries. The average pur- 

 chaser, dealing with the different supply 

 houses, can emphasize the necessity for this 

 caution, in many instances. To save the 

 loss of a valuable queen a frame or two of 

 brood is wanted, or a queenless hive is in 

 danger of extinction for want of a queen. 

 An order is dispatched to a dealer who loud- 

 ly advertises promptness. Not a word of 

 explanation, not a line of reply, until you 

 lose your patience, and, not unlikely, the 

 bees 3'ou are trying to save, and then the 

 article will come when j-ou have no use for 

 it. I have before me a letter saying, "I will 

 send you two untested Italians Monday or 

 Tuesday." Those queens were not mailed 

 as iDi'omised; considerable loss and incon- 

 venience are incurred, and I am left in ig- 

 norance as to when or if they will ever be 

 sent, and thus am at a loss to know whether 

 to order elsewhere or not. 



Another dealer quoted this spring on 

 bees, "up to 100 hives." I ordered one 

 hive, to be shii^jDed at once, by express, 

 sajdng I wanted it immediately to get 

 brood to save a weak colony, with a valu- 

 able queen. Over a fortnight after he re- 

 ceived my order he replied, "I will ship 

 next week." My queen died in that time, 

 so I canceled the order. 



Now, in both cases a post card, promptly 

 sent, would have enabled me to order from 

 other sources, in ample time to save my 

 bees. I refrained from doing so, expecting 

 those already ordered to arrive at any mo- 

 ment. 



My experience is, no doubt, that of thou- 

 sands all over the continent who have been 

 similarly "stung." These dealers foolishly 

 imagine that, by this process, they retain 

 trade. The oi^posite is the case. The burnt 

 beekeeper, like the burnt child, dreads fire. 

 The slothful dealer may retain the proceeds 

 of his first sale; but that transaction ends 

 his business relations with that customer, 

 most likely, forever. 



This candor should always be exemplified 

 in the description of the goods offered for 

 sale. I once purchased several two and 

 three frame nuclei from a dealer in Massa- 

 chusetts. One of these, a three frame. 



weighed about eighteen pounds in a light 

 shipping-box, threw off a strong swarm, 

 and yielded 110 lbs. surplus honey the first 

 season. All this lot (8 nuclei) was nearly 

 as good. At the same time I received a so- 

 called full colony from another dealer, in a 

 Langstroth hive. Bees, combs, and all 

 weighed just 23 lbs. ; had a hybrid queen ; 

 made no increase, and very little surplus 

 honej^ Which of those dealers do you 

 think will command respect and hold trade? 

 I have had dealings with the first of these 

 for many years, and it is like doing busi- 

 ness with a bank, for reliability and uni- 

 formlity. One transaction settled me with 

 the latter. 



As a class there are no more upright peo- 

 ple in the world than beekeepers. Those 

 who are dishonest are, in reality, freaks, 

 and scarce. Much that apj^ears irregular 

 is laziness or carelessness. The bee is the 

 world-wide emblem of industrial nature. 

 The beekeeper, to ensure success, must 

 study and imitate his subject. Doing tliis 

 bring-s him in closer touch with the opera- 

 tions of nature and nature's God. This 

 contact develops diligence, frankness, and 

 the higher ideals of honor in his interpreta- 

 tions of the responsibilities of business life. 

 The one who fails to pi'ofit by the teachings 

 of his busy exemplars will show an ill-kept 

 apiary, a long list of dissatisfied clients, 

 and all the evidence of a wasted business 

 experience. 



Do you notice that the most generous 

 and public-spirited of beemen are of that 

 class who study their subject the closest? 

 Can you account for it in any better way 

 than by ascribing it to the affinity of 

 two great industrial natures, the man and 

 the bee? The bee gives a full comb and 

 full weight. Try them and you will find 

 them prompt. Test them for integTity and 

 you will find them candid and practical. 

 Imitate them. 



Charlottetown, P. E. I., June 17. 



[We have seldom read an article that 

 is more to the point than this one. It will 

 bear careful reading on the part of all 

 queen-breeders and those who have sup- 

 plies of any sort to sell. 



The best advertisement that any queen- 

 breeder can put up for himself is prompt- 

 ness in filling orders; but no one can fill 

 an order for a grade of queen or queens 

 that he does not have. In that case, the 

 only thing for him to do is to write to his 

 customer at once, stating that he hasn't 

 the grade called for, and ask for instruc- 



