12 
This presupposes good wintering and an average season. When two 
or more of the important honey-yielding plants are present in abun- 
dance and are fairly supplemented by minor miscellaneous honey plants 
the locality may be considered excellent, and an expectation of realiz- 
ing more than the yield mentioned above may be entertained. With 
extracted honey of good quality at its present wholesale price of 6 to 
8 cents per pound and comb honey at 12 to 14 cents, each hive should 
under favorable circumstances give a gross annual return of $2.50 to 
$3. From this about one-third is to be deducted to cover expenses 
other than the item of labor. These will include the purchase of 
comb foundation and sections, repairs, eventual replacing of hives and 
implements, and the interest on the capital invested. By locating in 
some section particularly favorable to apiculture—that is, near large 
linden forests, with clover fields within range, supplemented by buck- 
wheat; or in a section where alfalfa is raised for seed; where mesquite, 
California sages, and wild buckwheat abound; where mangrove, pal- 
mettoes, and titi, or where sourwood, tuliptree, and asters are plenti- 
ful—the net profits here indicated may frequently be doubled or 
trebled. 
But these favored locations, like all others, are also subject to 
reverses—the result of droughts, great wet, freezes which kill back the 
bee pasturage, etc., and though some years the profits are so much 
larger than those named above as to lend a very roseate hue to the 
outlook for the accumulation of wealth on the part of anyone who can 
possess himself of a hundred or two colonies of bees, the beginner will 
do well to proceed cautiously, bearing in mind that much experience 
is necessary to enable him to turn to the best account seasons below 
the average, while during poor seasons it will take considerable under 
standing of the subject, energetic action, and some sacrifice to tide 
over, without disaster, or at least without such great discouragement 
as to cause neglect and loss of faith in the business. On the whole, 
there should be expected from the raising of bees for any purpose 
whatever only fair pay for one’s time, good interest on the money 
invested, and a sufficient margin to cover contingencies. With no 
greater expectations from it than this, and where intelligence directs 
the work, apiculture will be found, in the long run, to rank among the 
best and safest of rural industries. 
The value of bees in the pollination of various fruit and seed crops 
is often sufficient reason to warrant the keeping of a small apiary, even 
if circumstances do not favor its management in such a manner as to 
secure the largest possible crops of honey or to insure the saving of 
all swarms. The quality and quantity of many varieties of apples, 
pears, plums, and small fruits depend absolutely upon complete cross- 
pollination. The most active agents in this work are honey bees. 
59 
