118 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



The specialist then is one who devotes 

 himself to one thing as a pai-amount object, 

 putting his hand to other matters only as 

 they lead up to the main matter and impart 

 vigor and growth to it; or, at least, in no 

 important way interfere with it. If this be 

 the correct view of the subject, then it seems 

 to go almost without saying that not to be 

 a specialist is to so divide one's powers and 

 attention as to greatly weaken their proper 

 exercise. If the farmer must leave the 

 harvest field at the call of the horn or the 

 bell to hive swarms, or even if he 

 must give them attention when he is al- 

 ready anxious and tired enough with the 

 labors of the field, his honey crop will be 

 unprofitably costly if indeed he escapes the 

 general rule in such cases and obtains any- 

 thing but swarms. And, in like manner, if 

 the cobbler must leave his bench to care for 

 an apiary, his customers will forsake him 

 and he is likely to have but a meager return 

 from either trade. Such divided efforts 

 necessarily result in imperfect and unsatis- 

 factory work. There is friction and loss of 

 force in being compelled even to turn one's 

 thouqhts from one subject to another if both 

 be of serious concern. I speak of the aver- 

 age man: there are exceptions to every rule. 

 One's vocation is ordinarily the business 

 whence one derives one's living, and without 

 question the desired result could most effect- 

 ually be accomplished by making it a spe- 

 cialty; but I have no word against avoca- 

 tions; every one ought to have one or more. 

 If he delights in fancy poultry or fine grapes 

 or in history or language or science let him 

 not shut up his soul against the topic of his 

 choice. It will be the source of rest, refine- 

 ment, education, and a more symmetrical 

 growth. Let him fiy to it in his moments of 

 leisure for rest and refreshment, but not 

 with the expectation of making it financially 

 profitable, for that would bring additional 

 anxiety and weariness. 



Lapeek, Mich., Nov. 1, 188i). 



The Highest Success Attained by Specialty. 



J. A. GKEEN. 



"^jRN considering the question whether it is 

 flj) better for a man to confine liiuiself 

 j^ strictly to one business, whether it be 

 that of bee-keeper, farmer, lawyer, doc- 

 tor, or worker in any other of the branches 

 of human activity, or whether he may unite 

 two or more of these occupations, the first 

 point to be considered is, how is the great- 

 est success to be attained? We will not 

 need to dwell long on this point, for the 

 world's experience has given us ample 

 answer. The successes of life have been 

 more by those who with their minds fixed on 

 the desired end have pursued it through 

 failure and discouragement no jnatter how 

 great. 



It has been truly said that there is such a 

 thing as momentum in mind as well as in 

 physics, and concentration of mind energy 

 is as effective as concentration of physical 

 energy. 



If we limit our definition of success to the 

 matter of getting a living, the case remains 

 much the same. The greatest success is 

 never to be attained by a scattering of ener- 

 gies. Suppose two brothers by the name of 

 Smith enter the practice of law and medi- 

 cine, each being both doctor and lawyer. 

 Two other brothers by the name of Jones 

 enter the same pursuits with this difference, 

 that one practices law and the other medi- 

 cine. Other things being equal, which pair 

 of brothers is likely to meet with the great- 

 est success? Everybody will say, "the 

 Jones," and would employ them in prefer- 

 ence whenever the service of either doctor or 

 lawyer were re<iuired. 



Now does this not apply just as well to any 

 other occupation and to bee-keeping as well 

 as to any? There is enough in bee-keeping 

 properly carried on to fully require and oc- 

 cupy the energies of ai.y ordinary man. 

 Some will say that it is an extra hazardous 

 occupation and that therefore something 

 should be joined with it to diminish the 

 risks of financial shortcomings. If it is ex- 

 tra hazardous it also offers unusual oppor- 

 tunities of gain when fortune is prointious, 

 and it is the man who has nothing else to 

 do but make I'eady for it who is best able to 

 take at its flood the tide which leads on to for- 

 tune. There are times in bee-keeping wlif'n 

 hours, yes minutes, are golden, and the post- 

 poning of required labor for a week or less 

 may cause a loss of dollars for every colony 

 of bees possessed. 



That the man to whom bee-keeping is a 

 side issue often misses the critical time, we 

 probably have all seen. As a case in point I 

 fiad thirteen colonies of bees this summer in 

 the yard of a farmer bee-keeper having 

 nearly twice that number of his own. 

 About the middle of August I removed all 

 surplus honey, making ready for the fall 

 yield. His hives were full, but taking off 

 the honey was jiostponed. By the close of 

 the season my thirteen colonies had stored 

 nearly four hundred pounds of surplus, 

 while most of his had had no chance to si ore 

 any outside of the brood chamber, and of 

 course not very much there. He got his 

 clover in all right, but he missed some 

 honey. 



Some advise that everybody, especially 

 the farmer, shoiild keep a few bees. There 

 is just about as much reason for saying that 

 everybody should keep a few sheep, raise a 

 little wool, spin a little yarn, weave a little 

 cloth and make their own clothing. This 

 state of affairs has gone by in almost every- 

 thing else, but bee-keeping occupies a posi- 

 tion almost unique among tlie world's occu- 

 pations, in that the i-leas, methods and ap- 

 pliances of a bundled — jes, we might almost 

 say, of a thousand — years ago are to be found 

 side by side with those of the most modern 

 advancement. 



It is well enough for a man to have some 

 interests outside of his regular business to 

 whicli he may turn as a recreation and a 

 relief from daily care. Very often a man is 

 made broader and better by having this out- 

 look from the narrow confines of routine, 

 and his working efficiency may be even in- 

 creased by these seeming distractions. But 



