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U L E A iN i JSi U S IN B E K CJ H L i' U K K 



■JANUARY, 1921 



REAL APIARY MANAGEMENT 



The Beekeeper as a Business Man- 

 ager. Hois) to Increase the Mor- 

 ale of the Helpers 



By Morley Pettit 



DUEING the 

 Great War 

 we read in 

 the press reports 

 from day to day 

 of the ' ' mor- 

 ale " of our 

 brave fighting 

 men, or of the 

 lack of it in the 

 armies of the enemy. This has given us a 

 name for a desirable condition which we 

 have come to call ' ' colony morale. ' ' Now 

 it would seem fitting to apply the same term 

 to the beekeeper and his helpers, and speak 

 of ' ' Apiary Morale. ' ' As the workers of the 

 bee colony are kept in working mood by 

 proper conditions, so the morale of the hu- 

 man workers is maintained by good man- 

 agement. 



Success in beekeeping depends largely on 

 the mental attitude of the beekeeper. He 

 niust have faith in his business as a busi- 

 ness, and not regard it as a sideline or an 

 experiment or a stepping-stone. What at- 

 tracted me most in the teachings of the 

 late lamented Dr. C. C. Miller was the fact 

 that he resigned both a musical and a medi- 

 cal career, in each of which his prospects 

 were bright, and taught the world that bee- 

 keeping, a far more obscure calling then 

 even than now, is one good road to health, 

 happiness, and a comfortable income. 



The beekeeper who has made a right start 

 by facing the fact that he has tackled a man 's 

 job worthy of his best effort, must have 

 faith in his locality, or get into one which 

 he can trust. I am coming to think more as 

 the 3'ears go by that there is less variation 

 in localities than in the beekeepers who oc- 

 cupy them. Last but not least, the bee- 

 keeper who would succeed must have faith 

 in himself and his methods, and not be 

 turned about by every wind that blows. In 

 order to have this faith he must have with- 

 in himself the elements which make for suc- 

 cess in any line: Good health, diligence, 

 foresight, close observation, careful atten- 

 tion to details but a sense of proportion. He 

 must have the will-power to do the profitable 

 things and to leave undone the unprofitable. 

 He should be willing to take a chance when 

 it is a chance of increased profit, but never 

 when it is a chance of ordinary success ver- 

 sus failure. The really successful beekeeper 

 knows the "Whyf" of the various manipu- 

 lations; he understands the principles in- 

 volved in good beekeeping and bases all his 

 methods and appliances on these principles, 

 and not on what he prefers or someone else 

 says. 



Office and Equipment. 



Having all these elements of success 

 within himself, the one who makes a suc- 

 cess of a large commercial honey-producing 

 enterprise works out a system of manage- 

 ment which keeps all hands alert and the 

 work running like clockwork in .the most 

 difficult and irregular of seasons. This takes 



not only careful 

 planning but an 

 a 1) u n d ance of 

 supplies proper- 

 1 y distributed 

 and a good staff 

 of active and 

 willing helpers. 



At the Pettit 

 Apiaries the 

 plans center in the little office next to the 

 carpenter shop upstairs in the main building. 

 It is just a small room plainly finished with a 

 good desk and comfortable swivel chair, and 

 a stove for the cool days of spring and fall. 

 Around the walls are shelves of books, jour- 

 nals, and bulletins, and files for records and 

 letters. One window overlooks the home api- 

 ary for inspiration, altho I can assure you 

 that not much daylight time is spent here 

 during the active season. This office is con- 

 nected by teleplione with the dwelling where 

 the sister jnember of the firm has her desk 

 for taking care of the selling and shipping- 

 records. In addition to being sales-manager. 

 Miss R. B. Pettit is the queen-breeder of the 

 firm and looks after all requeening and in- 

 crease. With one or two helpers for the 

 muscular work, she takes her share of api- 

 ary management right thru the season. 



In 1920 there were seven yards with 

 about 450 colonies, spring count. These were 

 increased to 567 and will be in eight or nine 

 yards in 1921. The -vteekly visit, which has 

 always been our rule, has been extended to 

 a trip to each yard once in eight or ten 

 days according to conditions. Practically all 

 supplies are kept at home to be overhauled, 

 cleaned, sorted, etc., and taken to the dif- 

 ferent yards on the regular trips as needed. 

 To simplify the work we have standardized 

 equipment, as far as possible without throw- 

 ing away too much material that is still 

 useful or refusing to adopt changes which 

 are sure to increase profits. In fact, we keep 

 an experimental department going all the 

 time. 



Transportation is by means of a ton 

 truck, a light truck, and a Dodge roadster 

 which has good carrying space for queen- 

 rearing appliances in the back. Whichever 

 two of the cars the loads require go out 

 each day, so we can do up one large yard 

 or two smaller ones daily when necessary. 

 We use three student helpers, who come to 

 us in April and even have to learn the 

 names of some of the appliances. They sup 

 plj' muscular activity and try to follow di 

 rections, while we plan and direct and do a 

 share of the work. 



There has been a great deal of boasting 

 on the part of beekeepers about how many 

 colonies one man could manage alone. It is 

 true that, efficiency in this line should be 

 cultivated to the fullest extent. At the 

 same time I feel that a season spent in 

 apiary work is just that many months meas- 

 ured off my life. If I have spent those 

 mouths toiling harder and longer hours than 



