280 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



in our estimate? Are we not too much 

 g-iven to cultivating- a feeling- of disap- 

 pointment that we do not get a heavy 

 crop rather than to accepting- an 

 averag-e crop with gratification, or to 

 making- the most of a small crop ? 

 Relatively we have of course had a bad 

 year; some have even had no surplus 

 at all, but on the average has the year 

 been necessarily an unprofitable one ? 

 I say necessarily because sometimes 

 one has notions of the profitable charac- 

 ter of the venture he is about to eng-ag-e 

 in so elevated that he wastes sufficient 

 to make a fair profit. 



Once manj' 3'ears ag-o, a craze for the 

 production of hops took possession of 

 the farmers in a certain locality near 

 where I lived. Prices were high, the 

 crop in their estimation certain, and 

 so they were impressed with a cer- 

 tainty that inevitable wealth must fall 

 to everyone engaging in hop raising; 

 then naturally the absolute certainty of 

 coming wealth ushered in afeelingthat 

 it was already in possession, at farthest 

 the gold was only over the fence in the 

 soil of the hop field, and a little plow- 

 ing and harrowing in the spring would 

 secure it, so they were already wealthy 

 and acted on the assumption. No 

 effort was made to secure a line of 

 retreat. Victory was sure. Extrava- 

 gance in the building of hop houses, in 

 laying In supplies forthe packers, and 

 for the handling, weighing, drjang and 

 packing of the hops, ruled the hour. 

 But the storm came. Insects infested 

 the hops, the quantity, quality and 

 price were all lessened, and bank- 

 ruptcy overtook well nigh all of them. 

 The same thing is illustrated by num- 

 erous instances in the pine lumber 

 business. High expectations obscured 

 the necessity of care and economj', and 

 waste kicked the profits out of doors, 

 and let in disappointment and failure. 



Ruminating upon these things in 

 connection with the business of honej' 

 production, the idea suggested itself 

 that perhaps our notions of the status 

 of beekeeping with respect to profits 

 and necessary expenses, need readjust- 

 ing, and that the present series of bad 

 years would be a good time to consider 

 the subject. It may be I thought that 

 we are risking a chance of failure by 

 encouraging fanciful prospects of suc- 

 cess which are much too highly colored 

 .so that we become content to calculate 

 that though by the spending of time in 

 the useless manipulation of the bees 

 and by the purchase of elaboate lines 

 of machinery and supplies, we make 



the cost of our comb honey twelve 

 or fourteen cents, we maj' yet be sure 

 of a crop large enough so that the dif- 

 ference between those figures and the 

 selling price will yield a good profit. 

 I do not consider the prospects of pro- 

 fits in fair seasons with good manage- 

 ment, but I wish to call attention to 

 the danger of putting too much reliance 

 on the profits, trusting that they will 

 carry us througdi no matter what the 

 seasons are or to what a high point we 

 run expenses. If one practices proper 

 economy and thereby keeps expenses 

 down to the lowest reasonable point, 

 he still has no bonanza, to be sure, but 

 a safe, comfortable business. The cri- 

 terion of expenses should be actual 

 needs, not what it is supposed the busi- 

 ness will bear. If we make this latter 

 the test, as the majority are greatly 

 inclined to do, we are all sufficiently 

 optimistic to fall into the fatal error of 

 putting the average yearl}^ production 

 too high, and as a consequence to en- 

 counter failure in the end. 



Mr. G. M. Doolittle has said that if 

 capital and labor get their due rew^ard 

 the cost of comb honey is thirteen cents 

 a pound. It would be interesting to 

 know how he arrived at his conclu- 

 sions. Did he take the average of the 

 seasons as they are with him as a 

 basis ? In that case, as the seasons 

 with him average better than with the 

 keepers generally, to them the cost 

 would be even greater than to him. 

 Then I would like to know how much 

 of the cost is labor and how much 

 capital. Maybehe is extravagant with 

 labor. Not long'- since, if I remember 

 correctly, he gave it as a reason why 

 he preferred a hive whose frames re- 

 quired handling to one which could be 

 handled in two sections, to accomplish 

 the same purpose, that he enjoyed 

 handling the frames — that he got his 

 pay in fun. It may be that Mr. Doo- 

 little and some other bee-keepers may 

 grow fat on fun, but I am pretty sure 

 that our wives and children will not 

 grow fat on the fun that we alone 

 enjoy. We may well enquire, too, 

 whether he figures in this kind of labor 

 to make up the thirteen cents cost, and 

 so is contriving to get full pay from 

 each of two sources. At all events it 

 requires no argument to show that it 

 would not do to permit the cost of honey 

 to reach thirteen cents per pound. If 

 it were a necessity to permit it bnt few 

 of us would remain in the business. 



There is no one but will admit that 

 we should keep the cost down to the 



