BEEKEEPING AS A VOCATION. 



The increased use of honey during the war and the possession of some previous 

 knowledge of bees may have directed the attention of a large number of you, who are 

 disabled, to the possibility of making beekeeping your life work. During the war the 

 shortage of sugar made the larger use of 

 other sweets imperative, and it was es- 

 sential that the use of these substitutes 

 be augmented to the greatest possible 

 extent. The necessary introduction of 

 honey has made its deliciousness, pala- 

 tability, and healthfulness widely known 

 and will lead to its continuous and in- 

 creased general domestic use. The ex- 

 port demand for American honey has 

 recently increased beyond any former 

 record and the price has doubled. Bee- 

 keeping and honey production present 

 an opportunity to you for profitable live- 

 lihood with small investment. It is to 

 yom- personal advantage to consider it 

 carefully. 



The object of the Federal Board for 

 Vocational Education in issuing this 

 monograph is to explain to you the busi- 

 ness of beekeeping and to help you in 

 reaching a conclusion as to whether or 

 not you wish to undertake it. The Board -^'S. 2. Keady for business. 



will offer short, intensive courses of vocational training in bee culture to assist you in 

 becoming an efficient and financially successful apiarist, courses similar to that held 

 at the Agricultural College, Ithaca, N. Y. (See frontispiece, Fig. 1, of class.) 



Bee Culture Light Work, Interesting, and Profitable. 



Beekeeping differs from most other branches of agriculture, in that the beekeeper 

 handles an animal which has never been domesticated. He must therefore study the 

 habits of this animal and know them intimately before he may hope to succeed with 

 this work. The feeding habits, breeding, and even the housing of bees has not been 

 materially changed in all the centuries that man has handled them. If their habits 

 are well understood, the beekeeper may cause them to accomplish results which will 

 lead to the greatest profit to himself. The work is light, without routine duti^ at 

 fixed times, with no drudgery. Beekeeping is interesting, in fact enthusing and 

 strengthening to the mind and the body. It is a profitable business which may be 

 made very lucrative with devotion and experience. A western man sold his crop of 

 one season to a well-known company dealing in honey for .$30,000. 



What is Honey? 



Honey is made from the nectar secreted by thousands of varieties of flowers. This 

 nectar is gathered by bees and modified by them chemically. Water is evaporated 

 out of it and it is ripened into a delicious and wholesome food. 



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