PTJECnASING STOCIiS AND TEANSPCKTING BEES. 335 



proper management, alone, and that all superstitious no- 

 tions of propitiating some mystic power be thrown to the 

 winds.* 



It is quite common for heginners to take bees "on 

 shares " as it is termed ; it is a cheap way to begin, and 

 there is no risk of loss in capital. 



The general rule is this : one or more stocks are taken 

 for a term of years, the person taking them, finding hives 

 and boxes, and bestowing the necessary care, and re- 

 turning the old stocks to the owner, with half the increase 

 and half of the annual profits. 



Tet, if bees prosper, the interest on the money paid 

 for them is a mere trifle compared to the value of the 

 increase, and there is the same trouble. On the other 

 hand, the owner can afibrd to take care of a few hives 

 more, for the half of the profits which he has to give, if 

 another takes them. 



There are yet a few persons who refuse to seU a colony 

 of bees, because it is "bad luck." There is often a foun- 

 dation for this notion. 



Suppose a person has half a dozen hives, three extra 

 good- — ^the others, the opposite. He sells the three good 

 ones, for the sake of the better price ; there is but little 

 doubt but his " luck " will go too. But had he sold the 

 poorer ones, the result would doubtless have been very 

 different. 



But sometimes apiarians have more bees than they 

 wish too keep, and such are the ones of which to buy. " 

 Purchasers seldom want any but first-rate stocks — such 

 are generally cheapest in the end. 



* I receive scores of letters, detailing Hie continued success of llie writers, 

 till tliey can count their colonies by hundreds, arising from the adoption of a 

 common sense metliod of management. 



