PROFITABLE EGG FARMING. 
most people are frightened away from the 
undertaking by the difficulties which seem to 
present themselves. In the first place they 
are puzzled to know how to make a proper 
beginning, and what the requirements really 
are; for it goes without saying that no person 
wishes to invest very much capital in an uncer¬ 
tainty. A little looking into the question will 
usually disclose the fact that someone within 
a radius of five or six miles of you is a bee 
keeper of some degree. If this is the case 
it is well to buy your bees close at home, even 
if they are common bees, and in a box hive. 
Of course it is best to begin with only one 
colony, which, in the spring of the year, consists 
of one queen, a few hundred drones, and from 
twenty to fifty thousand workers. This will 
keep you fully occupied at first, and furnish 
you with experience which would be costly if 
obtained on a larger scale. 
Your colony of common bees in a box hive 
should not cost you more than from three to 
five dollars. Afterwards you can transfer 
them into a movable-frame hive and introduce 
an Italian queen. As the queen is the mother 
of all the bees, in the hive, you will soon have 
a race of thoroughbreds. 
It has been my experience and that of bee 
keepers generally, that there are fewer risks 
and larger profits in comparison to the amount 
of capital invested in bee keeping than any 
other business. Of course, emergencies do 
arise, but if they are met by ordinary foresight 
and common sense, they are not likely to result 
disastrously. For detailed instructions, such 
as it is beyond the scope of this article to give, 
there are numerous bee books to help the 
novice over the rough places in this delightful 
branch of agriculture. Kev. L. L. Langstroth, 
to whom great, honor 
is due, is the father 
of American beekeep¬ 
ing; indeed, it was 
through him that the 
pursuit has been de¬ 
veloped from a game 
of chance to the great 
industry that it is 
today; for it was his 
invention of the 
movable-frame hive 
that has changed the 
occupation oftheapiar- 
ist from one of pleasure 
but uncertain profits into a well-paying business. 
The illustration herewith shows a growth of 
six years ’ duration, or in other words, an old 
box hive transformed into a cosy little apiary 
of sixty colonies. The crop of honey has 
multiplied from two pounds to two thousand. 
Who can fort.ell the possibilities of the busy 
little bee? 
And now as to profits. As I am but an 
amateur, and bee culture is still only a side 
issue with me, possibly you may not consider 
my own testimony valuable; though my bees 
bring in a tidy, easily earned, and ever increas¬ 
ing addition to my regular income. It is a 
conservative estimate of the bee keepers 
generally, however, that each hive should 
bring in about five dollars a year; in favorable 
seasons, considerable more. And as each hive 
also throws off a swarm annually, it is easy to 
see how a little capital invested in bees will 
grow and multiply, besides yielding a very 
fair percent of profit. 
In locating an apiary and arranging the 
hives much taste can be displayed, but a few 
general principles should always be observed. 
It is an advantage to have the hives facing 
eastward or southward in order to have the 
morning sunshine in the entrances of the hives, 
which induces the bees to fly forth early in 
cpiest of the nectar which collects in the flowers 
during the night. When the hives are in this 
position they will also be protected from the 
north and west winds. A hedge of evergreen 
or honeysuckle will be a further protection and 
make a splendid enclosure. A few shade trees 
in the apiary are an advantage, and invariably 
attract the swarms which may issue from the 
hives at swarming time. 
F. G. Herman, in Farm Poultry. 
120 
