406 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE [Pub. Doc. 



60 pounds of .surplus honey. He has upon his own three- 

 quarters of an acre home h)t in a country village six swarms 

 of bees that have, up to date, stored more than 100 pounds 

 of surplus comb honey of the finest quality. In addition to 

 this, some have given oif large early swarms, each of which 

 should, under favorable conditions, store 20 pounds of hone}^ 

 in excess of that required to live upon during the coming 

 winter. 



Considering that a swarm of bees imiy be purchased, in a 

 modern, movable, frame hive, complete, including a sui)er 

 for holding surplus honey boxes, in May or June f(n' |6 or 

 $7, the yield of 20 to 40 pounds of suri)lus honey, worth 

 from 15 to 25 cents per pound, and the production of a swarm 

 of bees that may, under favorable conditions, produce 10 to 

 20 pounds of surplus honey, or be sold without a hive for 

 $1.50 to $2.50, the return for the money invested is most 

 certainly a good one. 



Such results can only be expected when the conditions for 

 a good and continuous honey flow exist, and the bees are 

 carefully looked after. It is the exception rather than the 

 rule that conditions are so unfavorable for honey production 

 that a swarm will not gather in excess of that required for 

 brood rearing and winter food supply. 



It is with bee keei)ing as with every other business, in that 

 it is most successfully conducted when given intelligent and 

 constant care. It usually ha})})ens, nevertheless, that with 

 scarcely any care a few swarms of bees will, if favorably 

 located, gather and store surplus honey, the only attention 

 given them being to remove the filled honey boxes in the fall 

 and replace them with empty ones in the early s})ring. New 

 swarms may or may not be saved. The writer is acquainted 

 Avith several parties, living in villages, each of whom keeps 

 in his yard two or three swarms of bees under the conditions 

 mentioned, and receive from each of them each year from 20 

 to 60 pounds of honey. 



It is advisable for one not familiar with the business, who 

 contem])lates starting in with bee keeping, to at first start in 

 a small wa}^ with only one or two swarms, and then with a 

 variety of bees that is quiet and easily handled. For this 



