JANUARY 1, 1913 



General Correspondence 



EXPERIENCES AND MISTAKES OF BEGINNERS 



BY J. L. BYER 



In glancing over the subjects outlined on 

 the inside of the front cover of Gleanings 

 for Dec. 1, the one in connection with mis- 

 takes and experiences of beginners struck 

 me most forcibly. , WHiile not a beginner 

 any more in the strict sense of the word 

 (yet after all it seems but a short time since 

 I was struggling to get enough bees to make 

 a living) there are as yet no veteran feel- 

 ings in my own mind; and as for experi- 

 ences, naturally I have had the usual 

 amount that come to the lot of anybody 

 who starts in any business with no capital 

 and with a family to support. 



My first bees were bought on credit, but 

 were not taken on those terms until ear- 

 nestly requested to do so by the friend who 

 bad them for sale. My note for 12 months 

 was given, and the bees Avere moved in 

 November. They were in single-walled hives 

 when bought, and after that date I trans- 

 ferred them into packed hives I had made, 

 lifting the combs out two by two from one 

 hive to another. Any one familiar with our 

 climate knows that transferring bees in 

 November here in Ontario is not good pol- 

 icy, but in this case luck favored me, and 

 they wintered all right. The crop was good 

 that season, and I paid for the bees, and 

 had a bit of cash left. This was, of course, 

 "experience;" but I am at a loss to say 

 whether I would consider it a " mistake " 

 for a person situated as I was to go in debt 

 for bees or not. Certainly it is at best a 

 risky way of starting. Just here I might 

 state the promise of the man, that, in case 

 I could not meet the note when due, he 

 would not sue me any way. While he was 

 perfectly honest in this assurance, I suspect 

 it would have done him little good to take 

 such a step, as it " is hard to get blood out 

 of a turnip," as the old saying goes, and so 

 just as useless to try to get money from a 

 man Avho has none. 



In looking back over the past few years 

 I note many things that have been done 

 that seem now to have been " mistakes," 

 and yet under the circumstances I am led 

 to wonder whether some of these " mis- 

 takes " could have been avoided. With only 

 a few bees, it was impossible to think of 

 making a living for the family, and of 

 course the thing that came to my mind as 

 a solution of the problem was in line with 

 the advice of our departed friend Hutchin- 

 son, " Keep more bees." 



With practically no capital, it was im- 



possible for me to discriminate in the mat- 

 ter of hives, etc. ; and, as a result, bees were 

 bought anywhere I could get them, and in 

 all kind of hives. This proceeding natural- 

 ly gave and is giving me lots of " experi- 

 ence," and to the minds of most men it will 

 no doubt be classed as a "mistake;" yet if 

 placed in the same position again, I no doubt ■ 

 would do just as I did before, with some 

 moditications learned by hard experience 

 of the past. It certainly is, under ordinary 

 conditions, a great mistake to have a num- 

 ber of different sizes of hives; but under 

 exceptional conditions there is license for 

 almost any thing, and the position I was in 

 called for radical methods if I was going 

 to keep on top. 



During the time I was buying up bees 

 here and there, many more colonies were 

 kept by farmers than is now the case, and 

 I soou learned that I could profitably buy 

 first swarms, when they were offered to me, 

 at about $1.00 each. Many a night have I 

 driven six or eight miles after a hard day's 

 work on the farm, in order to bring home 

 two or three colonies from some man to 

 whom I had taken empty hives earlier in 

 the season. I remember in particular a 

 farmer friend who complained bitterly be- 

 cause his bees tlu'ew out so many after- 

 swarms; and to help him out I told him to 

 hive the first swarms on the old stands a la 

 Heddon, and after six days move the old 

 stock to a distant corner of the apiary. 

 After a week or two he sent word to me to 

 come and get the swarms he had hived for 

 me; and, imagine my surprise to find the 

 said swarms with all foundation drawn out, 

 and the bees hanging outside the entrance 

 ni great clusters! He remarked, "I fixed 

 the beggars this time so that they would not 

 swarm the second time." He had followed 

 my advice in the matter all right ; but little 

 did I suspect that I was going to profit by 

 it at the time. As the man in question sel- 

 dom tried to get any honey from his bees, 

 my conscience did not bother me any, and 

 I took the bees home, getting about 100 

 pounds of clover honey from each, Tliis 

 little episode gave me " experience " all 

 right ; and even up to the present I can not 

 admit that there was any mistake so far 

 as I was concerned. 



About this time I contracted a disease 

 that I am afraid has become chronic — name- 

 ly, a desire to talk in the journals as well 

 as face to face with people. Accordingly 

 an article was sent to Gleanings in which 

 I told of the advantages of big hives, in- 

 cidentally mixing in some other twaddle as 



