'222 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Aug. 



• Be on hand promptly, and let] those who 

 may be waiting for you learn to depend on 

 you as on the rising of the sun. Be accurate 

 in small matters, no matter how much the ef- 

 fort may cost you, and when you tind it im- 

 possible to meet your appointment s,'notify the 

 one who is depending on you as quickly as 

 possible, and if you should happen to exhibit 

 more zeal in small matters than is usoal, or 

 really necessary, do not mind it if you are 

 laughed at. The laugh will very soon come 

 on the other side if you persevere. If it is your 

 business to sweep, do the sweeping so thor- 

 oughly that if there is to be any extreme, it 

 will be on the safe side, for it is an easy mat- 

 ter to learn to do sweeping poorly or hastily, 

 if you should be desired to do it in that way. 

 When a hand can be found that will do his 

 work well and thoroughly every time, even if 

 he be not a rapid workman, it is a very easy 

 matter to learn to do it fast. Be sure that 

 what you do is done right, and keep your wits 

 about you. We have just had a number of 

 girls and women at work putting up section 

 boxes, but every new hand would have to be 

 told one or more times that the sections must 

 be put into the large frames so that the strip 

 of fdn. was on the upper side. After watching 

 the matter carefully, every little while a sec- 

 tion would be found upside down, and finally 

 we were obliged to caution the hands at the 

 apiary, against putting on any upper stories, 

 without looking to see if the girls had not 

 made some such blunders, because one such 

 mistake, would result in having the honey 

 running as soon as the upper story was taken 

 off, and very likely the daubing of a whole lot 

 of honey. Our errand boy, 9 years old, asked 

 if he might put sections together; being in a 

 hurry, I told him to go to v>^ork, and I would 

 show him how, after awhile. He was forgot- 

 ten, but when I went to look over his work, I 

 did not find a single mistake in several hives 

 that he had filled. The reason was that 

 he had at a glance taken in the whole purpose 

 of the work, and knew as well why the fdn. 

 was huny from the top bar, how the bees got 

 in, and how the frame full was hucg in the 

 hive, as he did why his eyes were located near 

 the top of his head, instead of near his heels. 



If you are going to be valuable, you must 

 be observing ; you are not only to know how 

 the work is to be done, but just why it is to be 

 done so. If you are desired to use any kind 

 of machinery, you should as speedily as possi- 

 ble, learn all about the machinery. If your 

 employer finds that you are smart enough to 

 put it in repair when it gets out of order, in- 

 stead of putting him to the expense of a ma- 

 chinist, and the consequent delay, he will be 

 very likely to bear it in mind when it comes 

 time to decide how much he can afford to pay 

 you. Besides, where the person who uses a 

 machine is in the habit of repairing it, he will 

 be pretty sure to see that it is kept well oiled, 

 and is not allowed to be kept running when it 

 is unfit for work. Expensive machinery is 

 sometimes allowed to run without oil, or with 

 the screws or rivets loose, in a way that re- 

 sults in very expensive breakdowns, just be- 

 cause the persons having them in charge, 

 were careless or indifferent about the work 

 on which they were employed. 



I am well aware that it is a much easier 

 matter to tell what ought to be done, than to 

 do it, and that it is easier to tell the faults oi 

 others than to see our own ; .but those who 

 have fought the battle and come off conquer- 

 ors, know that we can in time shake off these 

 besetting sins, and that the victory is weli 

 worth all the toil and pains. 



Are you disappointed in your expectations? 

 Then school yourself to being more modest iD 

 your promises, and try to make it a point to 

 do a little better. than you agree. Are you 

 constantly making mistakes? Do everything 

 so slowly and deliberately that you can not 

 blunder, and recognizing your weak point, en- 

 deavor by every possible means to avoid leav- 

 ing a chance for mistakes to creep in. This 

 latter point is one on which considerable 

 study has been spent, and our railway and ex- 

 press companies have devised some very inge- 

 nious ways and plans to render mistakes al- 

 most an impossibility. I will mention a few 

 of the devices and plans that have come under 

 my observation. 



Where certain tools are used by many hands, 

 it is very diflicult to have all remember to put 

 them in their proper places. If a picture of 

 the hatchet and saw are made on the wall just 

 where they are to be hung, no one, not even 

 the smallest child, can fail to understand 

 where the place is. If the wall is white, the 

 figure of the tool may be painted some dark 

 color. 



If you have many duties to attend to, and 

 find you are liable to forget some of them, 

 note them down on a slate, and make it a 

 point to examine the contents of this slate 

 once or twice every day. If you, during the 

 day, think of something that needs attention, 

 note it on a piece of paper, and if you have 

 learned by past experience that you are likel-y 

 to forget all about your paper if you put it in 

 your pocket, do not put it there but carry it 

 in your hand until you can put it on your 

 slate. In our own business there are four ot 

 us who have boxes or pigeon holes for our 

 work, and as each one has his department, all 

 letters and orders are distributed as they come 

 from the office, wh"ere they belong. This ar- 

 rangement has proven so satisfactory, that we 

 often write orders for each other and drop 

 them into the proper boxes even while we are 

 sitting side by side, that each one may work 

 on silently without interruption, and take up 

 each different item with deliberation, and in 

 its proper order. 



Young carpenters make many mistakes in 

 taking dimensions; especially if they depend 

 upon leet and inches. To avoid this, I would 

 not use a rule, but would cut a stick of the ex- 

 act length wanted. To avoid cutting so many 

 sticks, simply taek two lath together so that 

 they give the length wanted. So much trouble 

 has resulted from measuring for the dimen- 

 sions of frames, hives, &e., that I have been 

 obliged to emphatically insist that hands 

 should not use squares or rules, but the stand- 

 ard guages that are provided for ail the differ- 

 ent sizes of frames. A bee-keeper once said the 

 only way he could get accurate hive stuft', was 

 to take one board to the lumber mill, and tell 

 them to make so many pieces like that. When 

 this was done, to take the next piece and so 



