APRIL 15, 1914 



291 



A man with sufificient ability to operate 

 a commercial apiary successfully and prof- 

 itably market the crop, should be able to 

 earn at least $5.00 per day at any one of 

 several other lines of business, so I used 

 that figure on a ten-hour day, or 50 ets. 

 per hour as time value in apiary work. 



If some of the advocates of thorough 

 spring overhauling, of stimulative feeding, 

 of building up weak colonies, and of the 

 hundred and one other needless and worse 

 than needless operations, will just keep 

 account of the actual time used in the api- 

 ary for one season, they will be staggered at 

 the total. 



It will not take much thinking to estimate 

 the hours given to each colony in a year. 

 You can figure it by taking the total of days 

 the owner and his helpers spent at it and 

 dividing it by the number of colonies; or 

 if the beekeeping is a side line, and attend- 

 ed to at odd moments, it is not difficult to 

 determine how long each operation takes. 



Hunting up the old queen and getting in 

 a new one takes perhaps as much time for 

 the average beekeeper as any part of the 

 work, and for that reason I used it to illus- 

 trate what I had to say on economics. 



If beekeepers had devoted to operative 

 costs a small part of the time and though! 

 they have given to supi^ly costs they would 

 have profited immeasurably. It is well to 

 keep cost of equipment as small as possible, 

 that interest charges and depreciation may 

 be less; but in trying to force supply costs 

 down, there is danger of getting such poor 

 goods, etc., as to result in ultimate serious 

 loss. Within certain limits it is wise to put 

 quite a sum into the equipment provided 

 the annual operative cost is thereby reduced. 

 If the increase in prices of supplies serves 

 to turn the beekeeper's thoughts to the eco- 

 nomics of his business, it will be worth 

 much to them. I would go even further, 

 and say that I think the rising i^rice oi 

 supijlies a blessing, for it will deter m.any 

 persons, who are not financially able to 

 enter the beekeeping business, from under- 

 taking it; and it will gradually crowd out 

 those who are poor managers, always short 

 of cash, and always hurting the honey 

 market by sacrificing their crojjs. 



Devote your thoughts to the expenses of 

 operation, and let cost of supplies alone 

 for awhile. 



Providence, R. I. 



[Ti-y as hard as we may, it is not always 

 easy to make the other fellow understand 

 just what we mean. If we missed the point 

 that our correspondent was making, it is 

 apparent to us, at least, that he did not 

 entirely get our point of view as to the 



actual loss by introducing on the cage plan. 

 If we introduced 5000 queens in our apiaiy, 

 and the loss from the cage plan were 10 

 per cent, then if the other fellow who 

 bought them of us should lose 10 per cent 

 in inti'oducing, it would be jDroper to add 

 the two i:)ercentages together, and thus 

 make the 20 per cent loss. Mr. Miller is 

 correct when he says we reared 5000 queens. 

 We actually did better than that. But there 

 was only a very small percentage of fertile 

 queens that were introduced into our yards 

 — l^robably not one per cent of the number 

 reared. On tliis basis there would be 99 per 

 cent that would have only one introduction 

 instead of two; therefore the percentage of 

 loss on the part of the expert would be, as 

 we figure it, not liigher than 10 per cent. 

 But possibly our correspondent was figur- 

 ing on the loss in introducing virgins. If 

 he figirred that way, then we shall have to 

 confess that the loss by introducing on the 

 cage plan would go away beyond 20 per 

 cent. 



Mr. Miller says that a man with sufifieient 

 ability to operate a commercial apiary suc- 

 cessfully and profitably, and market the 

 crop, should be able to earn at least $5.00 

 a day at any one of several lines of busi- 

 ness. He then figures on a ten-hour day, 

 and operating expenses 50 cents an hour 

 for apiary work. As a general thing, one 

 good man can furnish the brains for half a 

 dozen or a dozen men or boys with an abun- 

 dance of muscle and a little exi^erience. 

 Said an old and successful beekeeper the 

 other day, " I can hire all the men I need, 

 and some pretty good ones, at $1.50 a day: 

 but, mind you, I furnish the brains. They 

 do the work." Ordinarily we would say 

 that 15 cents per hour is a low figure; but 

 20 to 25 cents will usually buy a pretty 

 good man in the capacity of operator to 

 work on general plans supplied by the boss. 

 Mr. R. F. Holfei'mann goes one better. He 

 hires student help every year, pays them so 

 much a month and board, and a percentage 

 on what the season develops. His labor 

 item probably would not exceed 15 cents an 

 hour ; but his own time is probably worth 

 50 cents or more per hour. If we sujipose 

 that the average man who operates 1000 

 colonies is cajiable of bossing five or six 

 other men, the relative cost per hour would 

 be reduced in proportion. Tor example, 

 five men at an average price of $2.00 per 

 day would earn $10.00 per day. The bee- 

 man himself would make this $15.00, fur- 

 nishing the brains and doing some of the 

 labor. The operating expense of the six 

 men then would be $2.50 a day, or 25 cents 

 an hour. Perhaps this is what Mr. Miller 

 has in mind. — Ed.] 



