INTRODUCTION. 



WHO MAY KEEP BEES. 



SPBCIAI<ISTS. 



Any person who is cautious, observing- and prompt, will 

 succeed in bee-keeping^. He must expect to work with full 

 energy through the busy season, and persist though discour- 

 agement and misfortune both confront him. I need not men- 

 tion capital or location, for men of true metal — men whose 

 energy of body and mind bespeak success in advance— will 

 solve these questions long before their experience and knowl- 

 edge warrant their assuming the charge of large apiaries. 



AMATBURS. 



Bee-keeping is specially to be recommended as an avoca- 

 tion. Bees are of great value in fertilizing fruits, grains and 

 vegetables ; they also save millions of pounds of most whole- 

 some food which would otherwise go to waste ; and experience 

 amply proves that they may be kept in city, village and coun- 

 try at a good profit, and so any person, possessed of the proper 

 ability, tact and energy, may adopt bee-keeping, and thus do 

 good, gain pleasure, and often receive profit, as experience has 

 shown, more than is derived from the regular occupation. The 

 late Mr. C. F. Muth, of Cincinnati, long kept bees very profit- 

 ably on his store, in the very heart of the city. Hundreds of 

 our most successful bee-keepers live in small towns and vil- 

 lages, and add bee-culture to their work in shop, ofBce, or study, 

 and receive health, pleasure, and money as a reward. I^adies all 

 over our country are finding in this pursuit pleasure, and oppor- 

 tunity to exercise in the pure air, which means health, and 

 money. Farmers are adding bee-keeping to their farms, to 

 find not infrequently that the bees are their most profitable 

 property. Orchardists, especially, need and must have bees to 

 pollinate the fruit-blossoms, and insure a crop. The time 

 required will of course depend upon the number of colonies 

 kept ; but with wise management, this time may be given at 



