THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



51 



er is before you commence, not after. 

 If you mean only to try bee-keeping 

 to see if there is anything in it, then 

 don't touch it, for there is nothing in 

 it for a man of that make-up. If you 

 mean to let bee-keeping try you to see 

 if there is anything in you, then go 

 ahead, and if you have grit you will 

 succeed. 



Having settled the matter thus far, 

 buy two or three colonies, of Italian 

 bees from some reliable man. Don't 

 believe all you read or hear about the 

 many kinds of bees now being talked 

 so much about. The people that are 

 praising these new varieties know bet- 

 ter what purpose they have in view 

 than you do. 



It is next to impossible to mate 

 queens with drones of a certain breed 

 with any degree of certainty. Many 

 years of experience has taught me that 

 Italian bees, allowed to mix as they 

 please with the black bees of your 

 vicinity, produce bees that "can't be 

 beat." There may be good points 

 about some of these new varieties, but 

 taking all things together the Italian 

 is far the superior of anything yet dis- 

 covered. Buy your bees of some bee- 

 keeper who has already made a success 

 of the business, then you will be apt 

 to get good hives. A beginner is very 

 liable at this point to make the mistake 

 of following the man of theories. His 

 anxiety to push the matter, the novelty 

 of being a " bee-keeper," the desire to 

 at once get to the bottom of matters, 

 heedless of the proverb, "the more 

 haste the less speed," makes him very 

 apt to become the victim of sharpers 

 and theorists, and very likely he will 

 soon give up the business in disgust, not 

 omitting in his fit of anger at his losses, 



to give bee-keeping a bad name. The 

 fact that theories too often outshine 

 the practical, especially when on paper, 

 has been a great source of trouble and 

 expense to the beginner. Even older 

 heads have been made unsteady at 

 times by the allurements of theorists. 



When a man embarks in the bee 



business Mr. Theory, like the gossip- 

 ing neighbor who visits you first, is 

 ready and willing to throw light on 

 any and every point connected with 

 your pursuit. Don't take or follow 

 any advice thus gratuitously given. 

 You had better pay some good man a 

 high price for the truth, than follow 

 cheap advice which Avillbe sure in the 

 end to cost you many times more than 

 the truth would in the first place. No 

 bee-keeper of any worth will tell you 

 very much for nothing. His knowl- 

 edge has cost him too much, and is a 

 part of his stock in trade, the same as 

 in other professions. 



One of my early lessons was buying 

 too many bees to commence with. I 

 paid a man $176 for 25 colonies of 

 bees and eight empty hives. I asked 

 him some questions about taking care 

 of them, which he answered properly 

 as I look at it now, yet he had no in- 

 ducement to tell me more then I asked, 

 and the truth half told sometimes 

 leaves things in bad shape. The result 

 was I worked my bees that season in 

 such a way that I did not make $20 

 out of them, and increased them to 48 

 colonies of which all died but four the 

 following winter. The man I bought 

 them of was not to blame for he told 

 mefome had paid him as high as $2 

 for information, which at the time I 

 thought ought to come for nothing, 

 but I would have done well to have 



