GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July, 1919 



try, the mercantile business, or any of the 

 professions. However, to make it a success, 

 financially or otherwise, you must put your 

 brains and brawn into the business, especial- 

 ly good common sense. A lazy beekeeper, 

 or one looking for an easy way to make 

 money, had better take up some other work, 

 as he will get badly stung in beekeeping. 

 Do not expect, when you have bought bees, 

 that you will begin to realize profits. Ex- 

 penses are high, misfortune often follows, 

 and disease comes. Not all seasons are fa- 

 vorable for a good crop. 



Lamar, Colo. Cora D. Polhemus. 



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I am inclined to believe that, under favor- 

 able conditions, commercial beekeeping may 

 be made a financial success. Disease is, un- 

 doubtedly, the greatest hindrance; but by 

 proper precautions and prompt a -tion upon 

 its appearance it may be kept under control. 

 I believe the success of any undertaking is 

 largely up to the person in charge, as is evi- 

 denced by marked successes in practically 

 every business or profession. 



Yes, I would say that, to the ambitious 

 person, the chances are good. Find a good 

 location, get a suitable equipment, practice 

 the most approved methods, and success 

 ought to be yours. Ira D. Bartlett. 



s * * 



Yes and no. Like every other line of hu- 

 man endeavor it depends upon the man. 

 Some persons never grasp the essentials, 

 others get them quickly; the first never 

 succeed while the latter do if other 

 things are equal. The "other things" are 

 good location, sufficient capital, and sales- 

 manship. 



The necessary knowledge is best acquired 

 thru work with a professional, coupled with 

 a study of the history of the art. A knowl- 

 edge of wliat has gone before is almost as 

 important as knowledge of what is done 

 now. Arthur C. Miller. 



Yes and no. Yes, when there is no serious 

 disease to contend with, and a good dependa- 

 ble location, reliable, competent assistance, 

 and prices remaining above 12c to 15c. No, 

 with prices as low as previous to the 

 European war, and incompetent assistance. 



Our sage ranges are not as good as in pre- 

 vious years on account of frequent mountain 

 fires and inferior honey-producing plants 

 and weeds crowding out the former superior 

 honey-producing plants, and a great percent- 

 age of range wiped out or destroyed entire- 

 ly. In some places it will pay only as a side 

 line. M. H. Mendleson. 



Yes; but it does not pay everybody. Lack 

 of knowledge, lack of application, and lack 

 of capital are the three rocks on which many 

 a rosy dream has been shattered. You will 

 notice that the most successful beekeepers 

 are the ones who have gone thru as much 

 training as would fit a man for any of the 

 professions. The ones who have succeeded 



in acquiring a competence in beekeeping 

 \\ou'il have done well in almost any line. 



Albany, N. Y. Charles Stewart. 



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With a favorable location, and careful 

 attention, the beekeeping business for an 

 average of years will pay the commercial 

 beekeeper; but if the let-alone methods are 

 used, as is too often the case, then do not 

 start beekeeping. N. E. France. 



* * « 



This question can not be answered in a 

 word, yes or no. I have often correctly con- 

 cluded, after a week or two of observation, 

 that a young man with me would or would 

 not succeed in beekeeping. It depends upon 

 the individual, his circumstances, and his lo- 

 cation. I refer to the latter, for a beginner 

 has but little conception of an average lo- 

 cation. There are, perhaps, more shipwrecks 

 and heavy losses in beekeeping than in any 

 other agricultural pursuit. The aspirant 

 must be intelligent, thoro, prompt, observ- 

 ing. He should have read one or more good 

 bee books, and then begin in a very small 

 way, say two or three colonies; or have 

 spent a season with a successful (not neces- 

 sarily extensive) beekeeper. If a living de- 

 pends upon the returns from the business, 

 then there must be in reserve enough means 

 to live on for a year without returns. A 

 good way is to combine with something else 

 until success warrants otherwise. 



Brantford, Ont. R. F. Holtermann. 



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If one is or will become temperamentally 

 fitted to care for bees, and will learn the 

 fundamental principles of management, bee- 

 keeping pays. What one has done, others 

 can do; and not one but many have proved 

 that beekeeping pays. In what other line 

 of agriculture can you work outside in fine 

 weather, inside in bad weather, and have 

 six to eight months ' vacation a year, as in 

 the Northern States? A rosy picture, you 

 say. Yes; and if one will be businesslike, 

 the majority must admit that the picture is 

 true. Maximum returns can not be secured 

 unless our management is correct. 



F. Eric Millen. 



■Jt -if * 



Others have inade a commercial success 

 of beekeeping; so can you if the business 

 is one you hanker after. It will give you all 

 the food, clothing, and shelter that's good 

 for you. So will many another business. 

 But if you 're a born beekeeper no other 

 business will give you as much enjoyment 

 added to your living. I know. I might 

 have made more money at some other busi- 

 ness, but I'd have been dead long ago. I've 

 just started in on my 89th year, and there's 

 just as much fun in living now as there was 

 when I began keeping bees 58 years ago. 

 More; for I've better health than I had 

 then. The beekeeper has one handicap that 

 the raiser of other stock has not; he has no 

 legal right to his territory. I 'd like to live 

 to see that handicap removed, as it is in 

 some other countries. C. C. MilJer. 



