INTRODUCTION 13 
and the upkeep about 3/- yearly, further comments 
on the profitable nature of the pursuit are super- 
fluous. 
Again, as regards selling the produce the bee- 
keeper is in a most enviable position. The supply 
of first-class British honey is not nearly sufficient 
to meet the demand, and good prices are readily 
realized. The imports of foreign honey into this 
country are of the value of about £35,000 an- 
nually. This honey finds a market, apart from its 
use in manufacture, mainly owing to the paucity in 
the home supply, for which there is an ever in- 
creasing demand. 
There is no foreign honey which can compare 
in quality with the native article. A further point 
is that good honey. will keep for an indefinite 
period without deteriorating in any way, and, 
should low: prices rule, the bee-keeper can hold 
his produce for a better market without suffering 
loss. This necessity does not often arise, except 
in the case of a honey glut, as in the record 
year of 1906. Many poor colonies secured fifty 
pounds of surplus honey in that year, and some 
of my own yielded over a hundredweight each in a 
medium district. 
It will thus be seen what an aid to success. a 
well-ordered apiary can be, and it is within the 
power of nearly every man to become a successful 
bee-keeper. The attention required is really very 
little. No special location is necessary, as any 
rough corner which is not suitable for cultiva- 
