BEEKEEPING FOR CONNECTICUT. 



By a. W. Yates. 



Introduction. 



Beekeeping is a possible source of both pleasure and profit re- 

 quiring a small amount of attention. Honey has considerable 

 value as food, and in these days of food conservation and shortage 

 of sugar, its value is correspondingly greater than in normal times. 

 Beeswax is also valuable and both honey and wax find a ready 

 market. Beekeeping has never been properly developed in Con- 

 necticut. There are many beekeepers, each with a few colonies, 

 but in most cases the bees are left to shift for themselves. There 

 is need of more bees in the hands of energetic beekeepers, who will 

 give them more intelligent care. 



The outlook for honey production never was better, from the 

 money standpoint, than at present, and the possibilities, through 

 the suppression and control of infectious diseases, are much greater 

 in recent years; therefore it is hoped that this bulletin, while not 

 complete or by any means final, may encourage more people to 

 keep bees, and induce those who already have them to give them 

 better care, so that beekeeping and honey production generally 

 will be much improved. Bees on the farm, if rightly managed, 

 will prove very often the best paying investment the farmer has 

 for the amount of capital and time expended, and farmers who 

 become interested in apiculture will often find that the profits far 

 exceed their expectations. Bees not only are valuable as honey 

 producers but are of great value as pollen carriers, fertilizing a 

 great many fruit and vegetable crops, thus increasing their pro- 

 ductiveness. 



The sting, no doubt, is the reason why beekeeping is not more 

 popular. This, however, can be almost entirely avoided by the 

 use of the smoker and veil, ahd by the keeping of races of bees 

 that are less prone to stinging. Of course, all honey-gathering bees 

 have stings and will use them when aroused, but some races, such 

 as the Italians and Camiolans, are much less given to using them. 



