22 ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 



with but little labor, and, some believe, little brains, after they have 

 once "caught on" to a few secrets. C?) To choose any business 

 simply because it is profitable, is the heifrht of folly. A business 

 that is unusually profitable does not long- remain such. It soon be- 

 comes overcrowded, and loses its bonanza character. A man should 

 choose a business because he and his surroundings are best adapted 

 to the pursuit. 



Many fallinto the error of judging entirely by results, regardless 

 of causes. As that excellent bee-keeper, R. L. Taylor, of Michigan, 

 once said: "The greatest actual results do not prove the method of 

 management by which thejf were produced to be the best. Time, 

 and labor, and thought, and care, and material, and capital, are all 

 money, so the greatest results numericall}', may be obtained at a 

 loss, while the least apparent results may yield a profit." 



In much this same manner do many bee-keepers make the mis- 

 take of computing their income at so many pounds per colony, and 

 at so much per pound. The greatest yield per colony might net be 

 so profitable as a less yield per colony from more colonies, or even a 

 lessened yield from the same number of colonies. If a great yield 

 per colon^r is the result of a great deal of work, it may be that the 

 work was done at a loss. Bee-keeping should be viewed in a broader 

 light. It may sometimes be profitable to put a great deal of work on 

 each colony, but each bee-keeper should ask himself, how, cz// things 

 considered, can I make the most profit ? That is the question, and 

 all other propositions not relating directly thereto are mistakes. 



And this leads to the mention of another mistake, the keeping 

 of too few bees. Instead of keeping only a few colonies, and striving 

 to secure the largest yield per colony, it is usually more profitable 

 to keep more bees — enough to gather all the honey in a given area, 

 and then when that area is overstocked, it is probably a mistake not 

 to start out-apiaries. There is much to be gained in having as few 

 kinds of things to do as possible, and as much of them as can be 

 managed. The proportional cost of doing business is greatly 

 lessened by increasing the volume. 



Another mistake is that of choosing hives, implements and 

 methods that are complicated and require much time for their ma- 

 nipulation. A most common error in this direction is that of trying 

 to adapt hives to bees, to such an extent as to almost entirely ignore 

 the adaptability of the hive to the bee-keeper. I remember once 

 hearing a bee-keeper arguing for a hive that it was "so handy for the 

 bees." "Why," said he, "if you were building a house, would you 

 have it so arranged that your wife would be compelled to go up and 

 down stairs between the kitchen and the pantry?" It must be re- 



