July, 1919 



G I. E A KINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



beekeeping. When the would-be beekeeper 

 learns by practical experience that he can 

 manage a few colonies profitably he can 

 enlarge the business at will and with suc- 

 cess assured. 



If he desires to become well qualified in 

 as short a time as possible to produce honey 

 in quantity, there is no better way than to 

 engage in the work with a specialist for at 

 least one season. This practical experience 

 will decide whether the student possesses the 

 essential natural qualifications. Also a 

 knowledge of desirable equipment of hives 

 and devices, and how properly to use them, 

 will have been secured, which will prove to 

 be of great value to the beginner. 

 Danger of Overstocking. 



In establishing an apiary, due regard 

 should be had for the moral rights of other 

 beekeepers already established. If a bee- 

 keeper is occupying a location with as many 

 bees as it will profitably support, a due ob- 

 servance of professional ethics would deter 

 another from occupying practically the 

 the same location. The beekeeper who en- 

 croaches on a well-stocked location will nec- 

 essarily have to put up with much smaller 

 crops of hone}' than he would if he placed 

 his bees in unoccupied territory. Self-in- 

 terest ought to be sufficient incentive to pre- 

 vent overstocking. 



Prosperity of Beekeepers. 



Are beekeepers as a class prosperous"? 

 There are some indications that they are. 

 and are becoming more and more so from 

 year to year. Beekeepers ' conventions at- 

 tract beekeepers long distances, and a few 

 years ago a special car was occupied by 

 them alone on a trip from Chicago to Los 

 Angeles, Cal., to attend a convention of the 

 National Beekeepers ' Association. Many 

 educational institutions maintain an apicul- 

 tural chair and department. Apiculture is 

 recognized and fostered by liberal appropri- 

 ations by the United States and other gov- 

 ernments. A "straw" that indicates in 

 some degree the prosperity of beekeepers 

 was noted by a careful observer at a recent 

 beekeepers ' field meeting in western New 

 York; that is, out of nearly one hundred 

 automobiles owned by the beekee^jers who 

 attended, and which conveyed them to the 

 meeting, very few of them were of the fa- 

 miliar Ford make. Undoubtedly this very 

 serviceable car for ordinary use by the api- 

 arist had been left at home, and the more 

 classy cars used for public appearances. 

 Easy to Succeed. 



Beekeeping as an occupation has develop- 

 ed rapidly from an avocation to the dignity 

 of a vocation, and all within the past sixty 

 years. Within the memory of many veteran 

 beekeepers the activity of the apiarist, with 

 few exceptions, was confined to the one 

 home apiary; now specialists with a string 

 of apiaries are common. Within that time 

 the most valuable aids to commercial bee- 

 keeping have been invented and brought 

 into common use. Without these the high 



degree of success attained would have been 

 impossible. Sixty years ago there was not 

 a factory of importance that made a special- 

 ty of beekeepers' supplies. At the present 

 time there are numerous well-known houses 

 turning out vast quantities of material for 

 the use of the beekeeper that reach into 

 every quarter of the globe. The science of 

 beekeeping is also enriched by several high- 

 class trade journals, and many books and 

 government bulletins. Indeed, the cumula- 

 tive knowledge of the science that is now 

 available is so abundant that, to become pro- 

 ficient, and make beekeeping pay, is com- 

 paratively easy in these later years. 



Kenmore, N. Y. 



[Among the beekeepers we have known, 

 and who have made this business a source 

 of livelihood, we remember only one who 

 actually failed, and his failure was due to 

 drink. On the other hand, we have known 

 many people who have been carried away 

 with enthusiasm for a short time, starting 

 with a few colonies, only to become dis- 

 couraged because of a poor honey flow, and 

 soon drop out of the game. Beekeeping, ex- 

 tended over a number of years, certainly 

 does pay, and there are enough extra-good 

 years to balance fully the poor ones. We 

 recommend beekeeping as a good business 

 proposition for the man who is willing to 

 sjiend the time, labor, and capital necessary. 



Following are concise statements from 

 other noted beekeepers whose opinions car- 

 ry considerable weight. — Editor.] 



* * * 



It is just .50 years since I made beekeep- 

 ing my principal business. For some years 

 I ran a small farm as a side line, not daring 

 to risk my success with bees alone. I am 

 located in a fairly good section — not the 

 best, but better than many other places; 

 and now looking back I can see that I 

 should have had much better success if I had 

 confined myself to beekeeping alone. Some 

 years beekeeping, like other kinds of busi- 

 ness, pays poorly; and if one can turn to 

 something else it helps out. 



Middlebury, Vt. J. E. Crane. 



«■ * * 



As a result of my own experience, and of 

 travel among quite a number of beekeepers 

 in several States, I find that, if one's ideal 

 of success is something more than the mere 

 accumulation of money or wealth, beekeep- 

 ing does often pay quite well. However, the 

 majority of those engaged in extensive 

 commercial beekeeping show little evidence 

 of wealth. For wealth alone, choose some 

 other calling. The past two years have been 

 exceptionally profitable; but we shall never 

 see the like again. More effort must be de- 

 voted to the extension of marketing facili- 

 ties or disaster will overtake us. 



Meridian, Ida. E. F. Atwater. 



* * * 



If you like bees and are interested in the 

 study of them you can make beekeeping a 

 paying business the same as farming, poul- 



