98 THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



Not so with the labor union; the individual member is variable; 

 some day he hopes to be the employer or buyer of what formerly he 

 had to sell (his labor). So, unconsciously his ambitious w^ork to 

 keep his wage low. 



With this great factor removed the co-operation of producers 

 has only the ordinary factors of business to contend with, competi- 

 tion, supply and demand, etc.. which can all be overcome if honestly 

 managed, as proven by the example of hundreds of firms all over 

 the country. 



CO-OPERATIVE FAII.UBES. 



The only failures that have come to my notice through the daily 

 press were due either to dishonesty, poor management or lack of 

 co-operation ; and the latter can almost always be traced to the two 

 former. 



With no tariff on honey and co-operation, I feel that the honey 

 business is one of the safest investments a man can make. It takes 

 brains to manage anything successfully, and brains are what we 

 have to pay for and what we should be willing to pay for. 

 Calabasas, Cal. 



A Successful Bee-Keeper's Early Experiences, 

 Showing That Grit Is Needed. 



JOHN F. OTTO. 



•^'^ EAR FRIEN'D: — ^In answer to your letter of December 8, 

 Jf^} 1911, will say: 



1 began bee-keeping as a business twenty-five years ago. 

 We had bees at home as far back as I can remember. At first we 

 used no other hive but the old German straw hive. About thirty- 

 four years ago we got the so-called patent hive, and started to keep 

 bees in them, but the success was not very good. The biggest 

 drawback was winter losses. I came to the conclusion at that time 

 that there was money in keeping bees, if well taken care of. Then 

 I attended a business college and started a general store. 



As indoor life did not agree with me, after having 1)een in that 

 ])usiness for a little over two years, I sold out, and then started 

 the bee business exclusively. I kept from ten to twenty-five colonies 

 while in the store business, and had twenty-five colonies at the 

 time I sold out. Then I saw an advertisement in a paper of twelve 

 colonies of bees for sale. Being only four miles from my home, I 

 went and bought them. This was in the fall of the year. Then I 

 built an overground cellar, and on November 15 I put my thirty- 



