26 



BULLETIN OF 



Massachusetts Boakd of Agriculture. 



BEE KEEPING: SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR ITS ADVANCE- 

 ]\IENT IN MASSACHUSETTS. 



Burton N. Gates, A.M., Clark University, Worcester, Mass. 

 Expert in Apiculture, Bureau of Entomology, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



Apiculture is proverbially regarded as the poetry of agriculture. 

 Of agriculture George Washington said: "It is the most noble in- 

 dustry of man." We would therefore flatter ourselves in being for- 

 tunately interested in an art worthy of the most strenuous efforts to 

 advance it. 



As a business proposition, notwithstanding the general belief that 

 the business end (of the bee) is not worth while, we have e^ddence from 

 all thrifty bee keepers, on all sides and in all States, that keeping bees 

 pays. Not a little care is necessary, and this attention is imperative 

 at just the right moment; but on the investment the interest is great. 



Some have considered that bee keeping has had its day; true, the 

 old style. We have done with the box hive and with honey strained 

 through an old body-blanket, as the Indian used to do. We have 

 found that the crops can be increased, the ease of procuring them 

 increased and the profits advanced, by modern manipulation. 



Awakening, renascence, rejuvenation, modern-method progress, 

 larger crops and better prices symbolize bee keeping to-day. Massa- 

 chusetts is no exception; she responds to the stimulus -ndth the world 

 as a whole. But as yet the response is not general; it is noticeable 

 only here and there, as some one is having his eyes opened to the fact 

 that several times the old returns from a colony of bees are possible 

 under modern manipulation. Furthermore, we must better realize 

 the unquestionably good resources in this State, which are constantly 

 going to waste. We believe it pos.sible for bee keeping in Massachu- 

 setts to rival that of any of the northeastern States; in order to do it, 

 however, we must first become acquainted with the resources of the 

 State, with modern manipulation, and then spread wide the news 

 among all bee keepers. 



Before we consider how to better the existing bee industry, and be- 

 fore discussing the natural conditions for the industry in this State, 

 we may well observe what a few have demonstrated can be done with 

 bees by no more than a little judicious manipulation. 



