Bee-keeping as a Business 9 



they would secure enough honey in the good years to more than carry 

 them over the poor years, and thus not only make a living but lay up 

 money. 



When a man decides to cut loose from everything else, and go into 

 bee-keeping extensively, making it his only and his life business, the 

 question of all questions is that of locality. There are few localities 

 in which a small apiary might not yield some surplus ; but when a man 

 is to make of bee-keeping his sole business the securing of the best 

 possible location is time and money well spent. What a good solid 

 foundation is to a "sky-scraper," a good location is to the building-up 

 of a successful, extensive bee business. Having settled in a locality, 

 the bee-keeper can not study it too thoroughly. Especially must he 

 understand its honey resources ; the time when each flow begins, its 

 probable duration, its quantity and character. He must know whether 

 to expect a spring flow, like that from dandelion, hard maple, or fruit- 

 bloom, that will build up the colonies for the main harvest that is to 

 come later. If there is likely to be a season of scarcity between the 

 early flow and the main harvest, it must be known, and preparations 

 made to keep up brood-rearing by means of feeding or the uncapping 

 of honey. The management will depend largely upon the source of the 

 main honey-flow, whether it be raspberry, clover, basswood, buckwheat, 

 alfalfa, sage, or fall flowers. Whatever the source, the bee-keeper must 

 know when to expect it, and plan to have his colonies in exactly the 

 right condition to gather it when it comes. This is one of the funda- 

 mental principles of successful bee-keeping. 



Having secured the most desirable location, the next step is to 

 procure the best kind of bees that can be obtained. There are several 

 different varieties of bees, each with its peculiarities ; but, aside from 

 this, every bee-keeper who has had experience with several strains of 

 the same variety knows that some strains are far superior to others — 

 that there is scrub stock among bees just as there are scrub horses, 

 cattle, sheep and poultry. With scrub stock, the cost of hives, combs, 

 and other appliances remains the same ; it is no less work to care for 

 such stock ; and it requires the same amount of honey to raise and feed 

 it as it does the best stock in the world. In proportion to its cost, no 

 investment brings the bee-keeper greater profit than the securing of 

 superior stock. 



Having secured a good location and good stock, the bee-keeper 

 should adopt such hives, implements, and methods as will enable him 

 to branch out, establish out-apiaries, and keep a large number of col- 

 onies. .\t the present time the greatest failing of professional bee- 

 keepers is the keeping of too few bees — of clinging to some other 

 hampering pursuit. Many keep enough bees to furnish them a fair 



