The First Steps in Beekeeping 225 



for employment at a small wage in the apiary of a specialist 

 for a season. Not all extensive beekeepers, however, 

 manipulate their bees well and many of them fail to get the 

 maximum returns through faulty systems, especially in 

 comb-honej' production, but after some experience in such 

 an apiary the prospective beekeeper is better able to read 

 the details of manipulations understandingly, and he can 

 correct in his own practice the mistakes which may have 

 been taught him by his teacher. 



Value of reading. 



The many books on bees all have points of merit and 

 reading the various journals devoted to beekeeping is to be 

 commended. Reading alone does not make a beekeeper. 

 The "book-beekeeper" may be well informed concerning 

 the behavior of bees and may know the different systems of 

 management so that he can discuss them in detail, but only 

 by practice do these things become an actual part of his 

 beekeeping equipment. 



Merits of beekeeping courses. 



A good way to learn beekeeping is to attend some school 

 where a thorough course in this subject is given. Until 

 recently beekeeping was not included in the work of the 

 agricultural colleges in the United States, but interest is 

 now being aroused in this work and it is spreading in a 

 manner to give deep satisfaction to those interested in the 

 development of the industry. In the apiary of an experi- 

 enced beekeeper, the beginner perhaps gets more personal 

 attention than he does in a class, but usually in the rush of 

 honey-production, the theoretical side of the work is neg- 

 lected and frequently the beekeeper is not able to offer much 

 help to his student on such subjects. Consequently when he 

 begins to keep bees for himself, he may find local conditions 

 quite unlike those in the apiary in which he worked and, 

 not knowing the fundamental facts about bees, he may be 

 at a loss to know what to do. In a regular course of study, 



