BEE MANUAL. 21 



pleasant and conducive to health. I believe that many of our delicate 

 and invalid ladies would find renewed vigour in body and mind in the 

 labours and recreation of the apiary. My own experience of the 

 apiary is that it is a source of interest and enjoyment far exceeding 

 my anticipations." 



Although apiculture offers as good an opening to people of 

 either sex as can be found amongst ordinary industries, I do 

 not mean to say that it is a " royal road " to wealth, or that it 

 is suitable to every person who thinks proper to engage in it ; 

 but we have ample proof that it has been the means of many 

 people of both sexes regaining their health and strength, and 

 so enabling them to earn a respectable livelihood when they 

 were almost incapable of undertaking any other employment. 

 One notable instance in this respect I can quote in the person 

 of Mrs. L. Harrison, of Illinois, now one of the most successful 

 lady apiarists and writers on bee matters known. This lady 

 was at one time told by her physician that she could not live j 

 but, as she herself states, " apiculture did for her what the 

 physicians could not do — restored her to health, and gave her 

 such vigour that she has been able to work a large apiary for 

 years." 



ADVICE TO- BEGINNERS. 



Let me impress upon the minds of those about to embark 

 in the culture of bees the fact that success in this industry, 

 as in all others, can only be obtained by tact, patience, and 

 perseverance. As the Rev. L. L. Langstroth says : — " There 

 is no royal road to profitable bee-keeping ; and while large 

 profits can be realised by careful and experienced bee-keepers, 

 tho?e who are otherwise will be almost sure to find their outlay 

 result only in vexatious losses. An apiary neglected or mis- 

 managed is worse than a farm overgrown by weeds or exhausted 

 by ignorant tillage ; for the land, by prudent management, 

 may again be made fertile, but the bees when once destroyed 

 are a total loss." 



It would be injudicious for an inexperienced person to start 

 with a large number of colonies, not more than four or five, for 

 under modern management these could be increased very rapidly 

 after he had acquired skill and experience. I would recommend 

 beginners to procure good stocks or early swarms to start 

 with, from some reliable person in his immediate neighbourhood 

 if possible. For the sake of economy get black bees, and after 



