CHAPTER II. 

 What a Beginner Must Learn. 



THE fundamentals of beekeeping are simple. Only the de- 

 tails require time to learn. To be successful in beekeeping, 

 one must accomplish these three things: 1 — Build up 

 your colonies to the peak of storing strength coincident with 

 the beginning of bloom of your most important honey plants; 

 2 — Prevent any division of the strength or storing instinct of 

 the colonies thereafter; 3 — Conserve the strength of the colony 

 at all other seasons of the year, to prepare again for No. 1 the 

 next bee season. Anyone who can master those three details 

 will be a successful beekeeper anywhere. This is particularly 

 true of the South. 



There are several ways these methods can be learned in de- 

 tail. One is to work for a season in the bee yard of a successful 

 beekeeper, after you have first mastered the theory of bee- 

 keeping. Another, harder, but often best in the long run, is to 

 buy a few bees and work it out yourself, with the aid of other 

 beekeepers and by attending conventions and beekeeping demon- 

 strations. 



Building Up Colonies. 



Stimulating colonies is a good deal like giving a man medicine. 

 If the conditions are right, the medicine stimulates the body to 

 action. If conditions are wrong, no medicine will help. So 

 in beekeeping, one must supply a few simple conditions and let 

 the bees do the rest. No colony will build up well in spring to 

 reach proper strength at the right time without a young queen. 

 Therefore, requeen at least every two years. No colony can 

 build up if not supplied with sufficient food, either natural or 

 artificial, secured the fall before, to last through the period of 

 rest and until natural stores are available again in spring. There- 



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