46 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



two additional apiaries. Last summer 

 we ran some 550 colonies, mostly for 

 extracted honey, and, while the season 

 was a poor one, we were amply able to 

 meet all obligations. These bees are 

 fully paid for with the exception of one 

 $250 note on the first purchase, which 

 is not due until next fall. Also, we 

 have our share of the comforts of life, 

 including a small automobile: paid for. 



The results of the past two years are 

 not given for the purpose of inducing 

 some one to go in debt for bees, and, 

 through inexperience, lose everything; 

 but rather to show what can be ac- 

 com.plished with bees even by a com- 

 mon every day fellow of average capa- 

 bilities and experience. 



It is a popular delusion with some 

 people that experience is valuable ac- 

 cording to its length. This is wrong. 

 Some of the most ignorant bee keepers 

 in existence are those unread fellows 

 who point with pride to the fact that they 

 have kept bees for 20 or 30 years! I 

 honestly believe that I had as much real 

 back bone and sinew experience squeezed 

 into me during the last two years of bee 

 keeping, as in any other five years of my 

 bee keeping life. We would all be suc- 

 cessful if we had some mighty force to 

 make us do things, and to guide us lest in 

 our efforts we go astray. Let no one 

 believe that we have not put forth our 

 best thought and effort in getting this 

 second start; nor do we hesitate to ac- 

 knowledge the aid of a higher power 

 whenever we seemed taxed beyond en- 

 durance. I firmly believe that heaven 

 helps those who help themselves in an 

 honorable way. 



What is the best way to learn bee 

 keeping then?. If I may offer a sugges- 

 tion or two, I would say to start first on 

 a small scale; then hire out to a good, 

 liberal minded bee keeper who not only 

 reads but who is willing to impart 

 knowledge to others. Be more particu- 

 lar about what you are to learn than 

 about the wages you are to receive; for 

 as sure as the knowledge that you re- 



ceive is to be worth many tim.es your 

 wages, just so sure you will be an 

 awkward or an ornamental bird in the 

 bee yard for a while. 



I advised owning a few bees at first 

 because I know of no surer way to ac- 

 quire a love for the business than to own 

 and study the habits of bees. While it 

 is not necessary for one to love a business 

 in order to make a success of it, with 

 bee keeping I believe one should have a 

 natural devotion for the work. I, myself, 

 am something of a naturalist; having 

 exhibited traits in that direction when 

 quite small. One instance is recalled by 

 my mother, when I arrived home with a 

 fat, "warty toad" in each pocket of a 

 very early edition of knee pants. Grass- 

 hoppers, snakes mud turtles and other 

 '•aquatic insects"' were all inspected by 

 this inquisitive boy. Often I arrived 

 home late with the cows because of some 

 investigation of bird, beast or flower. 

 It is, perhaps, enough to say that I have 

 always been devoted to the bees, 

 and to this I attribute much of 

 my success. My first ambition was to 

 see them well fed for winter, and warmly 

 housed, and the honey which followed as 

 a matter of course, took second place in 

 my thoughts. 



While commercial bee keeping tends 

 to crowd out sentiment, those early years 

 of devotion are not lost sight of in the 

 struggles of later years; but enable one 

 to forget the hard work in the heated 

 room or atmosphere in striving toward a 

 yet more ideal of modern bee keeping. 

 Knowing the great possibilities in our 

 profession, let us be on the alert to bring 

 the science of bee keeping to the front 

 ranks. To place it where it should be- 

 long in significence with the leading 

 industries of today. 



In the following articles I do not as- 

 pire to say nothing which is old, yet it 

 shall be my endeavor to give only from 

 methods I have employed in actual 

 experience. Remember that no one 

 knows it all, and that no system will 

 work in all locations. We must glean 



