Beekeeping as an Occupation 
3 
tional apparatus needed in increasing the apiary. This they 
will do in the average locality, as well as show some profit. 
If the work then proves congenial, the transition from ama¬ 
teur to professional is often so gradual as scarcely to be recog¬ 
nized. 
Those beekeepers who are also engaged in general farming 
or who specialize in one or two farm crops are usually too 
busy elsewhere to give the bees the necessary attention at the 
time when they most require it and consequently few of this 
class of beekeepers rise to the ranks of the specialists. This 
is not so true of amateur beekeepers, since some of the 
many occupations which they follow usually permit the 
time and study necessary to the making of the proficient 
beekeeper. 
No genuine beekeeper will admit that any other occupation 
is more interesting than the care of bees. In fact, beekeepers 
are, in a sense, bound together by a common tie in their in¬ 
terest in bees, and this sense of union finds expression in their 
conventions, in the fraternal tone of their articles in the 
journals devoted to bee-culture and in their intimacy with 
each other. This sympathy arises from the fact that they 
recognize the fascination in the study of the bees and possess 
in common an absorbing interest in an insect which from the 
earliest times has aroused the curiosity of mankind. For 
the amateur beekeeper, this study has the marked advan¬ 
tage of being a recreation which pays its own way and, under 
proper conditions, produces no mean profit. 
Beekeeping is from its very nature one of the minor 
branches of agriculture. It is the means of conserving for 
human use the nectar of the multitude of flowers, which is 
usually so abundantly secreted in all sections of the country, 
and which, if not collected by the bees, is immediately lost. 
The raw material of honey costs the beekeeper nothing. 
The proper care of the bees in order to obtain the maximum 
crop and the preparation of the product of their labors for 
market take time and study, but for these the beekeeper is 
well repaid by the returns. 
