189G. 



TSE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



A Few Healthy Dont's for 

 Beginners 



BY ED. JOLLEY. 



The success of the beginner depends 

 as much on knowing what not to do as 

 it does on knowing what to <lo, and as 

 nearly all writers are telling what to 

 do, I will tell a few things that ought 

 not to be done. 



In the first place, don't get too 

 many colonies to start with. Two is 

 enough. Not more than four or five 

 at the outside. After having secured 

 your start don't be in too much of a 

 hurry about increasing your stocks. 

 Don't divide them into a number of 

 small colonies and expect to be able 

 to get a crop of honey. With your 

 limited experience you will simply 

 sacrifice your honey crop for increase 

 and still have no experience in what 

 is essential for a beginner to learn, 

 the art of holding colonies advantage- 

 ously for securing a crop of honey. 

 Have patience, and don't try to go too 

 fast. Let your efforts be directed to 

 getting your colonies strong for the 

 honey flow, and always do all you can 

 to discourage swarming rather than 

 encourage it, and then you will find 

 they will increase as fast or faster 

 than your growing knowledge will 

 enable you to handle them proficiently. 



Don't be too particular about the 

 variety or color of your bees, and 

 whether they are thoroughbred or not, 

 but see that each colony has a good, 

 prolific queen. If you find one whose 

 queen is not as proliffc as she ought to 

 be or has other undesirable qualities, 

 don't attempt to raise one to take her 

 place but send to some reputable breed- 

 er and buy one. By sending off for 

 queens to replace undesirable ones you 



always have a sufficient infusion of 

 new blood in your ai)iary to insure 

 you good queens when your colonies 

 swarm . 



Don't load up your smoker and go 

 delving into your bee hives without 

 being able to give a sensible reason 

 for so doing, if you were called upon 

 to tell why you were disturbing them. 

 Never make a move in the apiary 

 without a motive. 



After having secured a crop of 

 honey don't be in too much of a hurry 

 about disposing of it. Put it up neat, 

 clean and attractive, and then demand 

 a fair price for it, and see that you 

 get it too. You must remember that 

 you are building a honey trade upon 

 which your future success in bee keep- 

 ing will depend. You are now laying 

 the foundation, as it were, and you 

 cannot afford to put honey on the 

 market in a careless manner or sell it 

 cheap because you only have a little 

 of it, as the customers who get it will 

 always expect to get cheap honey 

 from you. Besides you are doing an 

 injustice to your brother bee keepers 

 by accepting anything but a fair 

 price. 



After having started in the spring, 

 and had one summer's experienoe, 

 don't spend your time the following 

 winter inventing a hive that will rev- 

 olutionize the bee keeping world, for 

 hiyes and frames of every conceivable 

 size and shape have been tried , and 

 over a quarter os a century of experi- 

 ence by the leading scientific bee 

 keepers has decided that the hives 

 and frames now catalogued as stand- 

 ard by all supply dealers are the near- 

 est approach to perfection that has yet 

 been attained. 



Don't buy hives that take other than 



