Every Step in Beekeeping 



CHAPTER I 



"WHY KEEP BEES 



"Whad^ yu mean, 'I ought to keep 

 bees?' " said my neighbor Mickey McFar- 

 land, in disgust. "Say," he continued, 

 "I get stung often enough in this fruit 

 business without addin' bees to my 

 temptations." 



"Yes," I replied, "we all get stung in 

 the fruit business more or less but, para- 

 doxical as it may seem, the more bees we 

 keep in our orchards the less liable we are 

 to be stung — with a short crop." 



We argued it out but in the end I con- 

 vinced the old man that bees were one of 

 the things he most desired in this world 

 and I think perhaps he will remain con- 

 1 



