The First Steps in Beekeeping 
225 
for employment at a small wage in the apiary of a specialist 
for a season. Not all extensive beekeepers, however, 
manipulate their bees well and many of them fail to get the 
maximum returns through faulty systems, especially in 
comb-honey production, but after some experience in such 
an apiary the prospective beekeeper is better able to read 
the details of manipulations understandingly, and he can 
correct in his own practice the mistakes which may have 
been taught him by his teacher. 
Value of reading. 
The many books on bees all have points of merit and 
reading the various journals devoted to beekeeping is to be 
commended. Reading alone does not make a beekeeper. 
The “book-beekeeper” may be well informed concerning 
the behavior of bees and may know the different systems of 
management so that he can discuss them in detail, but only 
by practice do these things become an actual part of his 
beekeeping equipment. 
Merits of beekeeping courses. 
A good way to learn beekeeping is to attend some school 
where a thorough course in this subject is given. Until 
recently beekeeping was not included in the work of the 
agricultural colleges in the United States, but interest is 
now being aroused in this work and it is spreading in a 
manner to give deep satisfaction to those interested in the 
development of the industry. In the apiary of an experi¬ 
enced beekeeper, the beginner perhaps gets more personal 
attention than he does in a class, but usually in the rush of 
honey-production, the theoretical side of the work is neg¬ 
lected and frequently the beekeeper is not able to offer much 
help to his student on such subjects. Consequently when he 
begins to keep bees for himself, he may find local conditions 
quite unlike those in the apiary in which he worked and, 
not knowing the fundamental facts about bees, he may be 
at a loss to know what to do. In a regular course of study, 
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