4 68 



BEE-KEEPING FOR SMALL FARMERS. 



At a time when the term " Agricultural depression " is 

 familiar to everyone, it will perhaps strike thinking men 

 possessing knowledge of the subject as curious that the class 

 of agriculturist known as the small farmer has never had his 

 attention seriously directed to the advantages of bee-keeping 

 as a means of adding to his income. Our own impression is that 

 if the possibilities of what can be done with a few hives of bees 

 are stated reasonably, in plain terms, without any exaggeration, 

 and proved by facts and figures, we shall have not a few small 

 farmers who include bee-keeping in their ordinary work, and 

 find it the most profitable branch of the farm. 



But, in marshalling our facts, we must begin by stating two 

 indispensable conditions, failing which success is impossible. 

 These are : — First, a suitable location ; and, second, some natural 

 aptitude for bee-management on the part of the farmer himself. 



Regarding our first proposition, the adage about " taking 

 coals to Newcastle " may be reversed by saying " it is no use 

 starting to keep bees with the view of profit in a district where 

 no bee-forage is grown." Not only so, but the quality of honey 

 yielded by the nectar of the flowers from which the main supply 

 is harvested is an important factor in the question. In other 

 words, there are many counties and districts in this country 

 %vhere, in an ordinary season, the honey is of such excellence as 

 to bring the highest price of the year ; while in other parts, 

 though a plentiful yield is secured, the produce is so inferior in 

 quality as to be hardly saleable for table use. 



It must also be borne in mind that the main honey crop is 

 gathered from fields, fruit orchards, and heather hills ; all other 

 sources of supply, including flowers grown in gardens, are merely 

 subsidiary to the above, and need not be taken into account 

 at all by the bee-farmer. To define clearly the good bee-forage 



