CHAPTER X. 



The Apiary. 

 Location. 



564. Any one can keep bees, successfully, if he has a 

 liking for this pursuit and is not too timid to follow the 

 directions given in this treatise. Even ladies can manage 

 a large apiary successfully, with but little help. Miss Emma 

 Wilson, sister-in-law of Dr. C. C. Miller, is an expert apiarist 

 and does a great portion of the work in two large apiaries of 

 several hundred colonies. 



Almost any locality will yield a surplus of honey in aver- 

 age seasons. The late Mr. Chas. F. Muth of Cincinnati, with 

 22 colonies of bees, on the roof of his house, in the heart of 

 this large city, harvested a surplus honey yield of 198 lbs. 

 per colony in one season. Mr. Muth informed us that this 

 surplus was collected from white clover blossoms in 26 days. 



565. But an intimate acquaintance with the honey re- 

 sources of the country is highly important to those desirous 

 of engaging largely in bee-culture. "While, in some localities, 

 bees will accumulate large stores, in others, only a mile or 

 two distant, they may yield but a small profit. 



"While Huber resided at Cour, and afterwards at Vevey, his 

 bees suffered so much from scanty pasturage, that he could 

 only preserve them by feeding, although stocks that were but 

 two miles from him were, in each case, storing their hives 

 abundantly. ' ' — Bevan. 



Those desirous of becoming specialists will find the subject 

 of location and yield further treated in the chapter on Pas- 

 turage and Overstocking (698). 



566. Inexperienced persons will seldom find it profitable 

 to begin bee-keeping on a large scale. By^ using movable- 



301 



