12 BEEKEEPING 



The annual honey crop of the United 

 States is said to be valued at about forty 

 million dollars and other good authorities 

 who understand both mathematics and 

 beekeeping have assured me that this 

 crop could be increased to three times its 

 present amount if the beekeepers of the 

 country would only give their bees better 

 attention. Unlike many other side-lines 

 this is a business that the fruit grower can 

 engage in and have a double interest and 

 a double return. He will secure better 

 crops of fruit, and as an incident to his 

 improved orchard conditions he will har- 

 vest a crop of honey to help pay the in- 

 come tax or the deficit on the orchard — 

 as the case may be. 



Bees do not require close attention for 

 long periods of time. Unlike poultry, or 

 rabbits, or dairy cattle, or goats, or any 

 of the other breeds of live stock, they do 

 not have to be fed daily, they do not have 

 to be milked, and the eggs are not gathered 

 nor the young ones sold at a certain age. 



