BEEKEEPING 



CHAPTER I 



BEEKEEPING AS AN OCCUPATION 



THE keeping of bees for the pleasure derived from studying 

 them and also for the profit arising from their products is 

 the vocation or avocation 

 of many thousands of peo- 

 ple in all sections of the 

 United States and Canada. 

 In former times, the bee- 

 hive, or more properly the 

 skep, "gum" or box-hive 

 (Fig. 1), was found on al- 

 most every farm, in im- 

 portance occupying a place 

 similar to that which poul- 

 try does to-day. Then as 

 now, beekeeping was usu- 

 ally not the sole business 

 of those interested. The 

 number of farmer-beekeep- 

 ers is now being reduced 



in most parts Of the FIG. 1.- A primitive box-hive. 



United States and bees are 



no longer quite so commonly seen in the country as in 



earlier davs. 



