SOME FIRST CONSIDERATIONS.—Chapter 1. 
that will give the bees a few days’ food supply. This time will vary con- 
siderably because of different latitudes. In any latitude the beginner should 
start after possible early spring-managing problems are past. For in- 
stance, in the northern and north-central states of the United States this 
is during early fruit bloom. Of course, the experienced beekeeper may 
safely buy bees at any season of the year, and he often does so in the fall, 
because bees may then be bought at a much lower figure than in the early 
summer when there is a prospect of a honey crop near at hand. 
How to Begin Beekeeping. 
Before the beginner in beekeeping actually makes his start there are 
several things he may do to his very great advantage. If he can visit an 
experienced beekeeper for a day or several days and come to understand 
something of the appliances and methods used in beekeeping, it will be of 
rouch assistance in his future work. He will thus pick up a fund of in- 
formation that might take him weeks or months to acquire from text-books 
or from his own experience. Almost any experienced beekeeper is ready 
to give an enthusiastic beginner a practical demonstration of many of the 
the manipulations of the hive. Again, in advance of beginning, the novice 
should read all the beekeeping ‘literature that he can reasonably acquire. 
The more theory he gets in advance of his practice, the better off he will be. 
We can not too strongly urge both the visit to some experienced beekeeper 
and the reading of beekeeping lore when making the start. 
The importance of beginning in a small way with bees and with as 
little expense as possible can not be emphasized too strongly. Nothing is 
more discouraging, after having plunged into the business too extensively, 
than to lose a large part of the bees either through bad wintering or from 
some other cause due to the lack of practical experience or to insufficient 
theoretical knowledge. Very many enthusiastic beginners in beekeeping 
have had their enthusiasm and love of bees killed by disaster due to starting 
too ambitiously. Sometimes a person is offered a bargain of 50 or 100 colo- 
nies of bees, including hives and implements, at a ridiculously low price. 
But this temptation should be put aside by the beginner, because it almost 
invariably leads to failure. Two or three colonies of bees are about the 
right number to start with. After the first year, the beginner will want at 
least as many as five colonies, and these will require beekeepers’ supplies in 
such amount as to be bought in original packages, effecting a very consid- 
erable saving. The purchase at first of a large number of bee appliances 
and tools ‘is as much to be avoided as is a beginning with too many bees. 
Get along with just as few appliances and as little expense as possible at 
first. 
But before discussing equipment, a word ought to be said as to 
whether the beginner should seek to produce comb honey or extracted 
honey, for the work is quite different and the equipment somewhat dif- 
ferent. 
