GETTING STARTED WITH BEES 93 



number of colonies and undertake their care 

 with httle risk. ^Vhile the author is personally 

 acquainted with one man who began by buying 

 eight hundred colonies, even though he knew 

 ahnost nothing about bees, and has been suc- 

 cessful, there is a great deal of risk in such a 

 venture. An epidemic of disease, a poor sea- 

 son when robbing was bad or any one of sev- 

 eral adverse conditions would result very 

 disastrously. While the general advice to begin 

 with not more than two or three colonies may 

 not always apply, it is much safer to begin with 

 such a number as one can lose without seriously 

 crippling one's resources. An apiary of fifty 

 colonies properly handled can be increased to 

 three or four times that number in a season, 

 and give the owner some valuable experience. 

 The person who has not had some previous ex- 

 perience may very well be cautioned against 

 plunging too heavily on the start. Even though 

 there were no other danger, one who has no 



