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SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



ing? My answer to both questions is 

 that it certainly can, if you are really 

 a fruit-grower and a bee-keeper. Mark 

 well my words. Remember that there 

 is a great difference between a bee- 

 keeper and a keeper of bees. A bee- 

 keeper is on to his job. He is alert, 

 progressive, and energetic; knows how 

 to handle his bees, and does the right 

 thing at the right time, which enables 

 him to harvest pretty good crops as a 

 rule. A keeper of bees is like the man 

 who plants an apple orchard with the 

 expectation that the trees will take 

 care of themselves until bearing time, 

 so that he will have nothing to do but 

 gather the crop which never material- 

 izes, and he wonders why. Unfortun- . 

 ately, we have too many keepers of 

 bees, just as we have too many slip- 

 shod fruit growers, to the great detri- 

 ment of the progressive, up-to-date 

 grower, who produces a really fine ar- 

 ticle, grades it right, puts it on the 

 market in a clean, attractive shape, 

 with the expectation of realizing a 

 fair recompense for his labor and 

 knowledge. 



Now, then, how can I become an up- 

 to-date bee-keeper so as to profitably 

 combine this vocation with fruit- 

 growing? That depends very much on 

 the person, and several things must 

 be taken into consideration in con- 

 nection therewith. If you are of a 

 decidedly nervous temperament, afraid 

 of the bees, tremble every time a bee 

 buzzes near you, my advice would be, 

 don't try to become a bee-keeper, for 

 such persons will rarely succeed. To 

 make a first- class bee-keeper, it takes 

 a person of steady nerves and fearless 

 disposition, and yet gentle and care- 

 ful in all his actions. But, if your 

 nerves are fairly steady, and you have 

 made a success of fruit-growing, I see 

 no reason why you should not succeed 

 at bee-keeping if you will give it the 

 same thought and attention you gave 

 to fruit-growing. Tou did not become 

 a successful fruit-grower in a day. 

 Tou undoubtedly made some mis- 

 takes. Things did not turn out just as 

 you expected. You did this or that 

 too early or too late, and failure re- 

 sulted. Just so with bee-keeping. Tou 

 need not expect that you can become 

 a successful bee-keeper in a day, or in 

 a year. Like all other callings, it 

 takes time, considerable study, some 

 hard work and some practice, to 

 elucidate the lesSons you have studied. 



First, procure "Langstroth on the 

 Honey Bee, Revised," or some other 

 classic on bee culture. Study it thor- 

 oughly and carefully, especially in its 

 relation to the production of extracted 

 honey, for the fruit grower has no 

 business to try to produce comb honey 

 if he expects to make a success of 

 both fruit growing and bee-keeping, 

 unless he is so located that he can se- 

 cure expert help, quickly, whenever the 

 occasion demands it. Begin with a 

 few colonies — preferably pure Italians, 

 in the Quinby improved hive, such ag 

 is used by the Badants, of Hamilton, 

 111. I know of no hive as good as this 

 one, for the production of extracted 

 honey, and I have tried about every- 

 thing that has appeared upon the mar- 

 ket, for the past forty years. Put in 

 practice the lessons you have learned 

 in your book, attend bee-keepers* 

 meetings, and especially field meets, 

 where practical demonstrations are 

 made, ask all the questions you wish 

 about problems that puzzle you, and 

 they will be answered by experts who 

 will be glad to assist you, and you will 

 find these answers to be of much help. 

 Subscribe for some^ood bee periodical, 

 so as to keep -abreast of the times; 

 and, lastly, join the State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association of the state in which you 

 reside, and help boost it along, and 

 thereby boost yourself as well. 



Now, then, ih conclusion, what can 

 one reasonal^y expect as to the direct 

 profits from bee-keeping? That, again, 

 like in everything else, greatly depends 

 upon the person. But in a general way 

 I am almost afraid to tell you what can 

 be made, and has been made, out of 

 bee-keeping rightly conducted, for fear 

 you might believe I was telling you a 

 fairy tale. What one person has done, 

 anybody else of like ability and energy, 

 under similar conditions, can duplicate. 

 I know of no other vocation that re- 

 quires so little capital with which to 

 start, and in which one can build up so 

 rapidly, at litlfle extra expense, as in 

 bee-keeping, if you know your busi- 

 ness. On the other hand, I know of no 

 calling in which you can lose all you 

 have invested in it, so quickly, as in 

 bee-keeping, if you are not onto your 

 job. I honestly believe that I am not 

 putting it any too strong when I say 

 that I know of no other vocation, gen- 

 erally speaking, in which the profits 

 are so great for the capital and labor 



