THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



85 



paint is still green, then painting over the 

 muslin. 



Mr. Fox H'ishes a rim around the edge 

 of his covers, as he says it does away 

 vv^ith the use of a weight to prevent the 

 wind from blowing away the covers, if 

 the bees have access to the joint between 

 the hivo and the cover, as they do in my 

 case, there is never any trouble from the 

 wind blowing off covers — the propolis 

 holds the cover on all right. 



Planning ond L.ooking Ahead. 



Of course a large share of a bee-keeper's 

 success comes from careful attention to 

 details, but fully as important is that of 

 looking ahead and working to some 

 definite plan. Every factor in a man's 

 business should be given frequent and 

 careful consiceration. Each should be 

 estimated at its true worth, compared 

 with the others, and in relationship to the 

 business as a whole. So many work 

 away, day after day. giving little thought 

 to definite plans, forming decisions on'y 

 when actually forced to do so by circum- 

 stances. The bee-keeper ought to decioe 

 whether his business shall be a mixed 

 one. and, if mixed, what with; or a spe- 

 cialty; or a sole business; how many bees 

 he shall keep: what kind of bees, hives 

 and implements he shall use; what kind 

 of honey he shall produce; how it shall be 

 marketed; etc. All this calls for a vast 

 amount of thought and planning, and 

 there m.ay be occasions when there maist 

 be a change of plan. Managing a busi- 

 ness reminds me of a pilot taking a ship 

 out of a harbor. All of the landmarks, 

 the buoys, the lights, must be watched 

 carefully, a turn hero, and a change there 

 :o av'iid some rock or shallow. So a 

 man must watch his business closely. 

 and be ■ eady to make any slight change 

 in his cjurse. Quite frequently has somie 

 ^riend said to me : 'it was lucky you 

 had tne money to do so and so;" or, "It 

 was fortunate that your business v.'as in 

 suc'i shape that you could leave home 

 an'- hei;'' >«h»^n thr honey nef^ded extr,-i,-.( - 



ing," or, "Yoii ■ •-•!;; never Iruve cume 

 through so w. ' you had been produc- 

 ing comb hoi-ey." etc. Now, there was 

 no luck nor good fortune about it; these 

 apparently fortunate ccin'.-'naticr.s came 

 about because they hod btsn planned and 

 worked for \/eeks, and months, ye?, 

 almost years. !n advance. 1 don't know 

 how it is with others, but, with myself, 

 this planning, ] lanning, planning aiiead is 

 one of my cluefest pleasures. No one 

 knows how many apiaries 1 located last 

 spring before I ever went to northern 

 Michigan; no one knows how many cellars 

 and honey houses 1 built before a spade 

 was put to the work. 1 love to sit in a 

 big chair, before the bright coal fire in 

 my ofifice. and. as the shades of night 

 gather around me. let my mind go over 

 the different problems and features of my 

 business. Perhaps some new factor has 

 entered the problem, and I consider 

 everything all over and over again, to see 

 if any changes are needed. I don't know 

 how it is with ot'iers, but my business 

 seldom worries me; instead, it is a pleas- 

 ure. How many times have I wrested 

 victory from v/ha^ would otherwise have 

 been defeat, had not there been a definite 

 plan worked out, and everything been 

 ready weeks in advance of any possible 

 need. 



5elf-5paced Frames, versus the loose, 

 hanging style, is a question likely to be 

 open for discussion for some time. The 

 Alerican Bee Journal sayi-. ti'f:.t I make it 

 appear that the self-spacing is most 

 valuable for holding i;he frames in place 

 when moving bees, when the greatest 

 value is in the rapid handling that may be 

 done with self-spaced frames — no time 

 used in spacing them. Let's see about 

 this rapid handling. With seif-spaced 

 frames some sort of a wedge or spring, 

 must first be pried out. Then a dumm.y 

 must comie out— and oh, how it does stick, 

 sometimes. Then the frames must be 

 pried apart. Sometimes it is possible to 

 pry the brood nest apart in the middle. 

 hut. oftener. the iiun-.c^. are stuck fast so 



