11 



CADETSHIP. 



Where it can be managed, the very best course for a young person intend- 

 ing to adopt beekeeping as a bxisiness is to go as a cadet for a season with 

 some successful bee-farmer, beginniug the season in September, when the 

 bees are being prepared for the first of the honey-flow, and continuing till 

 the honey has been prepared for market in the following autumn. Any 

 young person with inteUigence and application should be able to gain such a 

 practical knowledge of the work as would enable him or her to start, confi- 

 dent of avoiding the mistakes usual La all new undertakings. I cannot 

 speak too strongly of the value of such a course of training. 



CADETS AT THE STATE APIAEIES. 



Suitable applicants of either sex, for a course of instruction in bee- 

 culture, are received at the State apiaries each season as cadets, with the 

 opportunity of gaining a certificate at the end of their term. They must 

 conform to certain regulations, which may be learned on application to 

 the Biologist, Department of Agriculture, Wellington. 



The apiaries are open during working-hours to all persons desiring 

 instruction. 



PROFITS IN BEEKEEPING. 



It is but reasonable that the prospective bee-farmer should want to know 

 the probable profits attached to the business, consequently I am frequently 

 asked the question. I realise that it is necessary to be very cautious in 

 replying, and to guard against conveying a wrong impression, which might 

 easily lead to disappointment and loss. All industries require the com- 

 bination of three elements — capital, labour, and skill — and, although bee- 

 farming cannot be carried on without the aid of the first two, it mainly 

 •depends upon the skill of the apiarist what the profits will be. It would be 

 easy for me to show some surprising results that have been reached in New 

 Zealand, but it would be dangerous to quote these as a measure of success 

 or failure in all cases. As an estimate, however, I may state that from a 

 well-conducted apiary, in an average good district, the net profits per colony 

 of bees should reach from 17s. to £1 per annum through a number of succes- 

 sive seasons, and this estimate I consider well within the mark. 



It is a rule, without exception, in beekeeping that with largely increased 

 operations, and the establishment of out-apiaries, the average profit per 

 hive diminishes, though the aggregate profits ntay be very much larger. 

 No doubt this may be accounted for by the inability of the apiarist to 

 ^ive each individual colony so large a share of attention. 



