ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



121 



ist in any line can always out do the 

 man of many trades. This is a self- 

 evident proposition. The man who 

 succeeds is the one who concentrates 

 his energies, his capital and his time. 



Not every man is situated properly 

 for making- a sole business of bee- 

 keeping; and it may not be desirable 

 nor advisable that he change the con- 

 ditions, even if it T"«^re possible. These 

 are some of the points that each man 

 must decide for himself. One thing is 

 certain: No man ought to ever at- 

 tempt bee-keeping as a sole business 

 in a poor locality. The foundation and 

 corner stone of bee-keeping as a busi- 

 ness is a good location. Without it, 

 all else is in vain. With it, many other 

 things may be neglected. The man in 

 a good location will always wear the 

 robes of purple. 



Having the locatidn, the next step 

 is to stock it with the best strain of 

 bees. Every bee-keeper of experience 

 knows that there is just as much dif- 

 ference in bees as in other kinds of 

 stock. There are scrub bees just as 

 there are scrub poultry, cattle and 

 sheep. In our Northern Michigan api- 

 aries, we had, in one apiary, 50 colo- 

 nies of a distinct strain that increased 

 to 104 colonies, and stored 2,700 pounds 

 of surplus, while 60 colonies of ordi- 

 nary bees in the same apiary increased 

 to only 80 colonies and stored about 

 2,000 pounds of surplus. These bees 

 were all in the same yard the previous 

 season, treated the same, wintered in 

 the same cellar, and treated the same 

 in the spring. The only difference was 

 in the strain of bees. Now, it requires 

 no more hives, combs, nor labor to care 

 for thorough-bred, first class bees than 

 it does to care for scrubs. It costs 

 no more to raise such bees, for the bees 

 to rear the young bees, than it does to 

 rear scrub stock. A man in the bee 

 business, as a business, ought to leave 

 no stone unturned in securing the best 

 possible stock. Then let him keep 

 constantly weeding out those colonies 

 that show any undesirable traits, and 

 breed from those queens whose colo- 

 nies show the most desirable traits. 

 Don't keep introducing new and un- 

 certain blood, but go on selecting, se- 

 lecting, selecting, year after year. 



Having the location, and the most 

 desirable stock, the next vital point 

 is that of keeping bees in sufficient 

 numbers. I never knew a man to 

 become wealthy or even gain a com- 

 petency, from the keeping of a few 



bees. There must be a sufficient num- 

 ber so that, when there comes a good 

 year, honey may be secured ton upon 

 ton. Just how many colonies can be 

 profitably kept in one location may 

 never be decided positively. Locations, 

 seasons, methods and men all differ. 

 I am becoming satisfied, however, that 

 many of us might profitably keep a 

 great many more bees in one location 

 than we have been keeping. It might 

 be necessary to feed in both the spring 

 and the fall, but in the great, rushing, 

 booming harvest time, I doubt if a 

 really good location is very often over- 

 stocked. One year ago, in one location, 

 we had 150 colonies, and believed that 

 the number ought not to have ibeen in- 

 creased, however, the next season in- 

 creased to 200 colonies, and then 10 

 colonies. It was the cream of an apiary 

 moved from Flint to Northern Michigan, 

 stored 1,200 pounds of surplus, with the 

 average of all our apiaries was only 

 about 50 pounds. I am satisfied that it 

 is more in the condition of the colonies 

 at the time of the harvest than it is in 

 the number of colonies working in the 

 field. But before starting an out api- 

 ary let a man consider well, and see 

 what may be done in the way of feed- 

 ing, and otherwise caring for the home 

 apiary. Let him know beyond a doubt 

 that he has more bees at home than 

 can be profitably kept in that location. 

 Let him be just as sure as he 

 can be that it will be more profitable 

 to move some of them to another field. 

 Let him not forget that just as soon 

 as he starts an out apiary, he has tak- 

 en up a new problem in bee culture. 

 Previous knowledge of bee-keeping will 

 help him, but there will be many new 

 elements, many new factors. How 

 often, in reading the bee journals since 

 I began operating out yards, do I come 

 across some method, or plan, or pieces 

 of advice that causes me to exclaim: 

 "That is all right for a home apiary, 

 but of no earthly use in an out yard." 

 No sort of fussing can be tolerated in 

 an out apiary. There must be rigid 

 system. There must be simplicity. And 

 the methods must be adapted to the 

 work that is to be accomplished. De- 

 tails would be out of place here. In 

 fact, a plan or system adapted to one 

 location, or to one man, would be en- 

 tirely out of place in another state 

 under the management of some other 

 bee-keeper. It is wonderful to me, as 

 I look over the different systems of 

 different men who may not even be 



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