39 



There are a great many so-called bee-keepers who have 

 from one to five colonies of bees tucke^ into some back 

 corner, and perhaps once or twice a year they are visited, 

 dug out of the weeds and brush just enough to make sure 

 that they are not all dead. Now this is by no means a fair 

 deal. The farmer would not think of treating his stock or 

 fruit trees in this way if he expected results, consequently, 

 we should give the bees proper care if we expect results. 

 Results are measured by care and attention. 



It is well to start in bee-keeping on a small scale, and 

 increasing the colonies as you become more experienced in 

 the work. In two or three years you will be able to handle 

 successfully many colonies, whereas at the beginning you 

 might have resulted in failure. 



If it is the purpose to make bee-keeping a profession or 

 to get a large stock at once, some time should be spent in 

 the yards of a successful bee-keeper, or avail yourself of the 

 short course in bee-keeping at the College, under the direc- 

 tion of Prof. Gates; then the bee-keeper will learn more in 

 one season than in years of unaided work. 



Still another way to start, is for several fruit growers to 

 co-operate and employ an experienced person who can act 

 as circuit bee-keeper, going from place to place during the 

 busy season and caring for the bees. In so doing the or- 

 chardist would soon acquire sufficient knowledge to enable 

 him to successfully care for his own colonies. 



By all means procure modern hives, as this will make 

 the work in the apiary much easier, as the frames and other 

 parts of the hives will be interchangeable, and in securing 

 new stock for repairs you should have no difficulty in replac- 

 ing the old. It would be well for the prospective bee-keep- 

 er to secure a supply of hives and fixtures during the winter 

 or early spring. This will enable him to get better prices, 

 and also to assemble the hives and fixtures, having them in 

 readiness before the rush of the busy summer's work is at 

 hand. 



The standard outfit for the American bee-keeper is the 

 161/4x20 in hive or ten frame Langstroth hive, supers may 

 contain 4i/4xiy8inch bee-Avay comb-honey sections. 



There are several ways to secure bees. One way is to 

 buy a hive of bees of a neighbor or dealer, and by the aid of 



