The First Steps in Beekeeping 223 
prove helpful in the early days with the bees. It is best 
to have the bees already housed in the hive which is to be 
adopted but if this is not possible then colonies in any hive 
or in boxes or barrels may be purchased and transferred 
(p. 245). Transferring is a difficult operation for a novice, 
in fact it is not relished by an experienced beekeeper, and is 
to be avoided. Early in the summer is usually the best 
time for making the start, although the price charged for 
colonies is usually higher at that season. There is less 
opportunity for making such mistakes in management as 
will result in loss of bees during the first few months of 
ownership if these come during the summer. It matters 
little what race or strain of bees is obtained at the beginning 
except that it is desirable to avoid bees with too great a 
percentage of black blood in them, such bees being diffi¬ 
cult to manipulate. After the apiary is established any 
desired race may be obtained by removing the queens and 
replacing them with mated queens purchased from com¬ 
mercial queen breeders. If these are introduced to replace 
the old queens of the colonies, the progeny of the new queens 
will rapidly replace the offspring of the discarded ones as 
they die from natural causes. 
Purchase of bees to be shipped from a distance. 
Another method of buying bees which is growing in favor 
is to buy them by weight, without frames. Bees are now 
easily shipped in cages specially constructed for the purpose, 
even though the journey require several days. By this 
method the possibility of carrying some brood disease is 
obviated and there is less likelihood of damage to the bees 
by the breaking or melting of combs or by suffocation during 
the journey. Nuclei or small colonies with frames may also 
be shipped a considerable distance. These will usually 
build up to full colonies during the season if bought early, 
but of course surplus honey can scarcely be expected the 
first year from such a small colony. Still another plan is to 
buy an empty hive and leave it with some beekeeper so 
