4 Wisconsin Bulletin 264 



spent in it. An authority of high standing has stated that 

 eighty colonies of bees in a suitable locality and properly 

 cared for will produce a revenue equal to that of the average 

 120 acre farm. However, like any other agricultural pursuit 

 to be profitable, it must be conducted in a business-like 

 manner and receive the same attention as the successful 

 farmer or stockman gives to his crops or stock. Needless to 

 say, a proper knowledge of bees and honey production is es- 

 sential before the best results can be obtained. 



About 90 per cent of those who start in bee culture fail 

 because they do not have a sufficient knowledge of the life 

 history and habits of the honey bee and modern methods of 

 honey production. Or, possessing it, do not apply it prop- 

 erly. Commercial bee culture is a modern agricultural pur- 

 suit, the inventions and methods of management, making 

 honey and wax production profitable, having been brought 

 forward since 1850. Because of this and the general lack of 

 scientific investigations, probably 80 per cent of the persons 

 keeping bees are simply "bee owners" instead of real bee- 

 keepers. Practical "bee education" was never more needed 

 in Wisconsin than at the present time as the industry is in- 

 creasing with great rapidity. The State Inspector of Apiaries 

 has found during his years of service in the state that a proper 

 knowledge of bee and honey production applied for better 

 beekeeping is more needed than is a knowledge of bee dis- 

 eases. 



Bees Needed to Distribute Pollen 



An abundance of honey bees is a safeguard to horticulture. 

 They are the greatest factor in the distribution of pollen 

 among fruits and berries. A few other insects carry pollen 

 but if all honey bees were removed during fruit bloom season' 

 it is safe to say that there would not be enough fruit or berries 

 produced to pay for the gathering of the crop. Wisconsin 

 horticulturists producing annually thousands of dollars worth 

 of fruit and berries recognize the value of bees as pollenizing 

 agents and either keep bees in, or nearby their orchard re- 

 gardless of whether or not any honey is produced 



Fields of white and alsike clover seed within one mile of 

 an apiary yield at least twice as much as do those wh^re the 



