746 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1 



N. E. FRANCE, GENERAL MANAGER OF THE 

 NATIONAL BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION; 

 FOUL-BROOD INSPECTOR, AND LECTURER 

 AT FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



Some eighteen or nineteen j-ears ago, 

 about the time I began to take editorial 

 charge of this journal, we received a few 

 articles from Mr. E. France, the senior 

 member of the firm of E. France & Son, at 

 Platteville, "Wis. There was something 

 about the writings of this veteran that 

 showed unmistakably he was a master of 

 his profession. The short cuts that he rec- 

 ommended for facilitating the work of han- 

 dling the bees showed very clearly that his 

 knowledge came from that best of all schools 

 — experience. At this time the son, N. E., 

 was comparatively unknown; but some years 

 later, when I visited the Frances, I had the 

 pleasure of meeting the younger man, and 

 I saw at a glance that he was a veritable 

 chip of the old block. Intensely practical 

 like his father, he was readier to grasp new 

 ideas and inventions. The two, father and 

 son, made a fine team; and that they pulled 

 together is shown by the immense crops 

 they secured. I learned that the junior 

 France spent his winters in teaching school. 

 Gradually the mantle that had been worn 

 by the father was assumed by the son, and 

 now he has come to be the principal man of 

 the firm. But the younger France did not 

 come prominently before the world until 

 foul brood had got such a fearful start in 

 Wisconsin. Then it was that he showed 

 his ability " to do things " by going down 

 to Madison and lobbying in the interests of 

 one of the best foul- brood bills that has 

 ever been passed — a measure which, through 

 his generalship, became a law, and which 

 has been in active operation for seven years. 

 But at that time Mr. France had no idea of 

 being himself foul-brood inspector. He sim- 

 ply saw the urgent necessity of a strong 

 and efficient measure that would stamp out 

 the disease that threatened the destruction 

 of a large part of the bees of Wisconsin. 

 To make a long story short, he was ap- 

 pointed inspector of apiaries — a position he 

 has held with signal credit to himself for 

 seven years ; and so faithfully has he per- 

 formed his duties that, were it not for the 

 importation of the disease from other States, 

 he would have stamped it out. As it is, 

 he has it well under control. 



For sixteen years preceding his appoint- 

 ment as inspector he was engaged with his 

 father in producing immense crops of honey 

 and big shipments of fruit. During that 

 time they have produced the enormous 

 amount of 460,000 lbs. of honey, or an aver- 

 age of 27,850 lbs. per annum, from an aver- 

 age of about 450 colonies located in several 

 outyards. But, as if so many bees were 

 not enough to keep them busy, they ran in 

 connection with the bees a twenty- acre 

 fruit-farm, selling annually $50.00 to $80.00 

 worth of asparagus; $150 worth of beets for 

 stock feed, and from 3000 to 12,000 quarts of 

 berries. 



Of course, they do not attempt to do all 



the work themselves; but during five to sev- 

 en weeks in the height of the season they 

 employ some thirty or more persons, most 

 of whom are boys from sixteen to twenty 

 years of age. To get the best results pos- 

 sible, each hand is drilled for some special 

 out that line of work. 



The junior France's prominence as a bee- 

 keeper, and his successful work as inspec- 

 tor, soon drew the attention of the authori- 

 ties of the State to him, with the result that 

 he was finally sent out to lecture at far- 

 mers' institutes. He is away a great deal 

 of the summer, except during the berry and 

 honey season, and a large part of the win- 

 ters. He lectures at a hundred institutes 

 each winter in his own State, and some- 

 times he is called to go into other States to 

 talk bees and fruit to the farmers. So per- 

 sistentlj' is he being sent from one town to 

 another that he travels something like 4000 

 miles by rail each year, inspecting apia- 

 ries and treating bees, and about 2000 in 

 attending institutes. 



Some few years ago, when Mr. Secor an- 

 nounced that he could not accept the posi- 

 tion of General Manager of the N. B. K. A. 

 any further, and requested the members to 

 look for some one else, a careful canvass 

 was made on a part of some of the leaders 

 of the organization, resulting finally in the 

 selection and election of Mr. France for 

 the important office. Notwithstanding he 

 has held the position but a little over a year, 

 the membership under his management has 

 increased about half. He has been found 

 tactful, careful, and capable ; and at the 

 present time he enjoys the respect and con- 

 fidence, not only of the people of his own 

 State, but of the bee-keepers all over the 

 country. 



Personally, Mr. France is a pleasant 

 man to meet. He is square of build, rug- 

 ged and forceful in appearance, and when 

 you hear him talk you can not help feeling 

 that there is a man like his father — one 

 who knows perfectly well what he is talk- 

 ing about. 



For twelve years he has been President 

 of the Southern Wisconsin Bee-keepers' As- 

 sociation; four years Secretary of the Wis- 

 consin State Bee-keepers' Association, and 

 five years President of the same organiza- 

 tion; all of these in addition to his duties to 

 the State and to the N. B. K. A. Verily 

 he is a busy man. Some one said, if you 

 wish to get any thing done, and done well, 

 go to the busiest man you can find. While 

 that is not always true, results go to show 

 that the rule holds good in the case of Mr. 

 France. He has been tried, and has not 

 been found wanting. 



Notwithstanding he has been a tremen- 

 dous worker, with these many duties that 

 were thrust upon him by his State and by 

 the bee-keepers at large all over ihe coun- 

 try, and notwithstanding the advanced age 

 of his father requires that he take personal 

 charge of their own large business, he is 

 hale and hearty, and at 47 he is able to do 

 what would crush many younger men. 



