388 THE HANDBOOK FOR PRACTICAL FARMERS 



sources of nectar. The bees will need care when these plants 

 bloom and, having determined when this is, the next question 

 is whether at that particular time other farm operations will 

 occupy all the time of the person on whom the care of the 

 bees will fall. If the bees will be neglected at swarming time 

 because of other more pressing work, it will be better not to 

 keep them. 



Beekeeping is a branch of agriculture which requires a cer- 

 tain amount of specialization and it rarely pays to have a few 

 colonies with a view merely to getting some honey for home 

 use. Side line beekeeping was conmion years ago in some parts 

 of the country and there were bees on almost every farm, but 

 diseases of the brood of bees, now widespread in the United 



ir>7. — ^A commercial apiary in Florida. 



States, make this unprofitable. The bee owner who does not 

 give bees the needed attention never gets a full crop but may 

 get a little honey in years of plenty. In lean years his bees often 

 starve, even though the good beekeepers of the region are get- 

 ting a fair crop. 



Location. — The bees should be protected from the prevailing 

 winds of winter and be so placed that they will not disturb 

 passers-by. They may be protected from the heat of the sun 



