CHAPTERS 



PREREQUISITES 



When the beekeeper outgrows beekeeping in his home apiary 

 and decides to take up outapiary work, it is assumed that this 

 is done with the main object of increasing his income. 



It is therefore evident that it is desired to eliminate the non- 

 essentials and to formulate a plan that will give him the greatest 

 returns for the least labor involved. He must make the most 

 out of the apiary always, but he should do it in the least time 

 and not sacrifice himself to petty details to the detriment of his 

 ever-growing industry. The grass may not be well kept, the 

 hives may be out of level, but the other extreme of minute exact- 

 ness in outapiary work is nearly as bad as lack of care, at least 

 financially. 



Experiments as a rule will, or should be, confined to the home 

 apiary, in which more time may be spent and more careful super- 

 vision given, though the keeping of outapiaries will give oppor- 

 tunity for a larger variety of experiments and room for more 

 general observation on many subjects. 



In the early days of outapiaries it was considered good prac'ice 

 to keep a man at each apiary during the summer. In f,ome 

 instances now, where very large outapiaries are possible, a helper 

 is kept at each yard during the swarming season. But with 

 the coming of the automobile and truck, and with better roads, 

 it is the usual practice to handle all yards from a central home 

 apiary or from several central apiaries if the system is sufficiently 

 large to warrant division of control. 



The Beginnings of Outapiaries 



Too many of us are apt to assume that outapiaries are of but 

 recent development; that they have been in operation but a 



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