27 



Investment Necessary. Examples to 



foUow. 



The investment which the general bee keeper makes in his business 



is nine-tenths brains and study and one-tenth nioney invested in bees man was disabled 



and equipment. If he invests money only, his failure is a foregone r^it^of^umhot 



conclusion. wound. He stud- 



■ The price of hives and other equipment has greatly increased during giueering and has 



the war, and there is not much likelihood that it will decrease mate- t;.iS'.^™ ^^ ®'°°" 



rially during the next few years. However, by making inquiry the 



I, 1 i: ^1 £ J ^ -^^ I. -A A blacksmith, 



bee keeper may frequently find opportumty to buy equipment from t^iio lost lung 



persons who have failed to make a success because of unwillingness to ^^hot'^womid^ 



study theproblems of the apiarist or of inability to devote to the work studied machine- 



the time necessaiy. Such failures are sufHciently clear proof that the is now a section 



bee business requires devotion. The country is full of discarded hives piawi^s^com^ 



which have been bought by persons who have conceived the idea that pany. 



it was only necessary to buy a colony of bees and that the bees would a former machin. 



' ' work for nothing and board themselves. ' ' wlato^f on^at 



If new hives completely equipped for producing extracted honey count of the ser^ 

 are bought at present prices they will probably cost from ?4 to |5 each, mechanical draft- 

 The bees to start a colony will cost perhaps 15 if purchased from dealers S'^p^tim''^ *a 

 in bees, but may be obtained for much less by arranging with some meohanicaldrafts- 

 apiarist to fill the the hives one supplies with swarms as they come off. 

 Frequently such arrangements may be made with some bee keeper aioted with rapid' 

 who, not caring for more colonies and to avoid buying hives, will gladly ^e"lmess'*took"a 

 sell swarms as they issue, at, a nominal cost. course in boiler 



In proportion to the return, there is no other branch of agriculture cured^a ^perma- 

 requiring so small a financial investment as beekeeping. Before the §0116' toftsmm 

 inflation of prices due to the war two colonies of bees on an average 

 paid the good beekeeper as well as an acre of corn, and the investment 

 was, of course, much less. It is estimated that an apiary of 300 colonies 

 will yield a net income equal to that of a good 160-acre farm and 

 be quite as reliable from year to year. However, the statement 

 made should be kept in mind — the investment which the beekeeper 

 makes is chiefly brains. This is a commodity which can not be pur- 

 chased from the hive dealer or secured with any number of swarms. 

 In fact, the more bees and equipment you have without the use of 

 brains and training, the worse off you are. 



Is There a Future for Beekeeping ? 



There is demand Jor all the honey that can be produced in the 

 United States, and there was never a time in the history of the indus- 

 try when the honey market was so well established. Of course, dur- 

 ing the war,, when there was a shortage of sugar, the demand for honey 

 was abnormal, but it seems improbable that the market will ever 

 revert to prewar conditions in price or demand. Many persons learned 

 to use honey who will continue purchasing it, notwithstanding they 

 may now buy all the sugar they wish. Honey is not a substitute for 

 sugar in the diet, but more properly takes the place of jellies and jams. 

 With the development of the bottle trade in honey, which has been 

 rapid during the past five years7 there is an increasing demand in the 

 wholesale markets. The introduction of prohibition has unquestion- 

 ably caused the use of more honey and of all kinds of sweets. This 

 has already become quite evident. The sugar stringency resulting in 

 the war-basis distribution had its application in ma,ny States simul- 

 taneously with prohibition. It was not difficult to enforce the cur- 

 tailment of sugar to confectioners in wet States, but most difficult, 



