THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



235 



a person can equip accordini^ to his 

 means. One handy with the tools can 

 save many a dollar in case of an 

 emerg'enc3', and if too far from a 

 mechanic. 



I shall add a motive power to my ex- 

 tracting' room as it will save expense of 

 a man, do more rapid work, and ex- 

 tract comb.s much cleaner, as I have 

 had honey so thick that hand power 

 could not extract it clean; at least a 

 quarter of it remained in the comb and 

 was returned to the hives. 



Work that is not rushing- should be 

 set aside for a rainy day So as to keep 

 men from idleness. 



Perfect order and cleanliness is abso- 

 lutely necessary to prevent confusion in a 

 large business. To be neat and clean, 

 will add to sales and retain good 

 customers. 



There should be shelter for wagons, 

 utensils, cases and cans. 



One of my best ventures, was when I 

 employed skilled men to raise the best 

 of queens, adding greatly to the in- 

 come. I believe the results from a good 

 skilled man, to raise queens, will more 

 than pay for my help. 



"Well," said a large producer here, 

 "why all this fuss, and order, and 

 bother, and skill ? They don't amount 



to anything ! See our neighbor . 



He gets as g-ood crops per colony as 

 we. Don't fuss with queens. He has 

 not any skill and his bees are not half 

 cared for." This was always taken 

 from spring- count, reg-ardless of losses 

 from foul brood, combs destroyed by 

 moth and other losses. His best col- 

 onies survived. It was a wonder he 

 had any left. Part of his bees were 

 lost from careless methods and would 

 have brought in good returns; and still 

 brought down the average of the whole 

 by his methods. 



The above large pnxlucer, after 

 losing half of his bees since last fall, 

 or within six months, has hired a 

 skilled man to raise queens this com- 

 ing season. This producer is a skilled 



mechanic, can rush work, and is 

 going "to do things." 



Our greatest problem, in handling 

 large numbers of bees, is in securing- 

 reliable and conscientious helpers. 

 Advertising^for assistance has not been 

 altogether satisfactory. The majority 

 unconsciously over rate their own 

 ability. They have a limited amount 

 of the theoretical and much less of the 

 practical knowledge. Many have man- 

 aged small numbers of bees, and 

 worked in a slow fussy manner. 

 They have g-otten into a habit, or rut, 

 in doing things, and are set in their 

 ideas, causing much loss and worry, 

 at times when the work should ^o like 

 clock work. 



In 1903, while I was at an out-apiary 

 for a few days, an old man went to 

 work at forced swarming (at my ex- 

 pense). The result was that part of 

 one apiary wrts ruined for a honey 

 crop. Many colonies were destroyed. 

 There was brood minus bees, larvae 

 in piles on the bottom boards, and 

 many of the bees departed. 



Other helpers were capable, and fol- 

 lowed out orders. Skilled men are the 

 best, eve?i though they are slow, but an 

 active, skilled man is worth a higher 

 salary, for the advanced results derived 

 is a big- item. Orders obeyed, and 

 rapid work means advanced salary. 

 Sick, weakly men, cannot stand the 

 work to be done here in a good honey 

 flow. Many sickly men apply for 

 work, not realizing this fact. 



A percentage of crop profits would 

 be an encouragement to conscientious 

 helpers and add much to the income. 

 I have had this in consideration for 

 some time. But how are we to get at 

 it ? With our varied, and so many 

 short seasons, it is a problem for me 

 to decide. I should be pleased to hear 

 from other producers on this subject; 

 give suggestions and see if we can g-et 

 at some conclusion. Bees on shares 

 has not always proven satisfactory. 

 Rent'of ranges, high rents, -take your 



