Bee Disease Control ' 23 



proven. For extracted honey production practically all New 

 Jersey beekeepers use the Hoffman frame. 



Apparatus such as swarm catchers, queen and drone traps, 

 and many types of feeders on the market, have no place in a 

 successful honey-producing apiary. 



In selecting apparatus it is well to consider some form of 

 winter protection for the bees more than is provided by the 

 sinele-walled hives. 



. Returns from Beekeeping 



Financial 



The amount of money to be made from a business is often the 

 main consideration. The opportunities to amass wealth in any 

 rural occupation are rare indeed. There are, however, greater 

 and quicker returns in beekeeping, considering the amount of 

 time and capital invested, than in any other rural occupation. 

 Many times the beekeeper receives for one season's crop an 

 amount equal to his total investment. It is, of course, too much 

 to expect this to occur every year. As is true of every other 

 rural business, there are seasons when the returns are small. 

 Rare, indeed, is it necessary in New Jersey to feed the bees to 

 keep them alive. Judging from personal experience and the 

 data which have been secured in the past five years' inspection 

 work in the State, a gross return of $5 a colony per year is a 

 conservative estimate if the honey is sold at wholesale. Should 

 the beekeeper be- able to retail his honey (and this is desirable), 

 50 per cent could be added to these figures. 



An average of 35 sections of comb honey, or 60 pounds of 

 extracted honey, per colony is common. Individual cases of 250 

 pounds of extracted and 200 sections of comb honey from a hive 

 have been secured. 



A few instances of what has been accomplished in New Jersey 

 with bees will give some idea of the financial possibilities of 

 beekeeping in this State. The person operating the largest 

 number of colonies in the State has but 250. His investment he 

 estimates at $2,500. About one-third of the bees are operated for 

 comb honey and the remainder for extracted. No help is hired 



