1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



11 



their honey-crop, think it "good bus- 

 iness" to lead others to believe that 

 "bees don't pay." So far as profit 

 they religiously keep their own coun- 

 cil, sometimes going so far as to make 

 raisleadingj statements with the idea 

 that by so doing they are keeping 

 others from opening an opposition 

 "shop." We thus arrive at the very 

 fair conclusion that selfishness and 

 mismanagement are the two prime 

 factors of the problem why " bees 

 don't pay." 



Leaving, then, for a time the fail- 

 ui'es, and] endeavoring to arrive at 

 what is most likely to lead to success, 

 a rather curious fact has to be borne 

 in mind, viz., how largely experience 

 teaches that a score or so of hives 

 well-managed give a greater propor- 

 tionate return for^the time aud outlay 

 expended then is obtained where a 

 very large number are kept. The 

 reasons for this, however difficult to 

 understand at first, become fairly 

 plain if we bear in mind the increased 

 burden of .management when a very 

 large apiary is taken in hand. As 

 stock increases so is the labor more 

 heavily felt, and Avhat once was a 

 pleasure, when a few hives were kept, 

 becomes a trouble ; the interests flags, 

 and imperceptibly, but surely, the 

 energy and attention necessary to suc- 

 cess fall away, with the result we haye 

 mentioned. 



But to come to the brighter side of 

 the question. 1 have presonally had 

 to do with a good few beginners dur- 

 ing the past year, some of these in 

 comparatively poor honey districts, 

 too ; yet I do not know of one whose 

 bees have been a financial failure ; 

 simply, as I think, because they have 

 gone the right way to work. They 



have each started in a small way, giv- 

 ing all the neces!«ary time, care, and 

 attention to their few colonies, and 

 the result gathered from figures now 

 before me shows an average of 35 lb. 

 to 90 lb. per hive, according to their 

 districts. I quote brief particulars of 

 one or two cases ; — 1. Bees cost 8s., 

 hive homemade, surplus taken 90 lb.; 

 increased to two stocks (good district), 



2. Bees and hive costs 23s,, surplus 

 43 lb., sold at Is. per lb.; no increase, 

 but bees now very strong (bad district). 



3. Bees in skep transferred to home- 

 made hives in May, 33. lb. surplus in 

 sections, sold at Is. per section ; no 

 increase (poor district.) These few 

 cases may serve to illustrate my point, 

 which is that good results can only 

 follow intelligent management, wheth- 

 er on the part of a beginner or an old 

 hand. 



For myself, I can honestly say that 

 after keeping bees under many varied 

 conditions, sometimes '^wasting the 

 whole season and practically wasting 

 stocks in carrying out some, perhaps, 

 useless fad or crank of my own, I am 

 perfectly satisfied that there is no 

 business, hobby, pastime, or pursuit 

 that gives so much profit for the out- 

 lay, to say nothing of the pleasure and 

 the health-giving side of the matter, 

 as a few well-managed hives of bees 

 in careful and thoughtful hands. 



To be successful, observe first the 

 golden rule — *' Don't put off till to- 

 morrow that which should be done 

 today ;" second, regard it as absolute- 

 ly necessary to make a study of your 

 bees ; the third, give them the atten- 

 tion they require at the right time. 



H. W. Brice. 



See Clubbing Rates on page 8. 



