Beginning wtth bees 
■Dad and sonny watching their hees work for nothing and hoard themselves. Both are thinking of the honey 
they are going to take from those bees. 
to see some progressive beekeeper, and 
spend a whole day where he will be able 
to pick up tricks of the trade, and a fund 
of information that might take him weeks 
or months to get out of textbooks. Such a 
beekeeper could very easily illustrate the 
proper manner of opening a hive and han¬ 
dling the frames—in short, make a prac¬ 
tical demonstration of many of the manip¬ 
ulations here explained. If there is no 
beekeeper he can visit, he should send to 
his nearest dealer and get a two- or three- 
frame nucleus with a queen. Let him fol¬ 
low carefully the directions on the out¬ 
side of the shipping-box; then, with the 
bees before him, read and study his ABC. 
Having seen the bees and learned how to 
open a hive, what next? 
The importance of a small beginning 
with as little expense as possible cannot be 
urged too strongly, for nothing is more 
discouraging after having plunged into the 
business extensively than to lose a large 
portion of the bees, either thru bad win¬ 
tering or from some other cause—all for 
the want of a little practical experience, or 
even a theoretical knowledge. Many a per¬ 
son has met with disaster from starting 
out with bees on altogether too large a 
scale. Sometimes one is offered a bargain 
of 50 or 100 colonies including hives, bees, 
implements, smokers, etc., and the tempta¬ 
tion becomes strong to buy. He had better 
not invest unless he has read the several 
articles indicated at the close of the Fore¬ 
word at the beginning. 
After investing $100.00, one should put 
no more into the business until the bees 
bring in some returns. In other words, 
the bees should be made to pay their way. 
It is very easy to put good money into the 
venture and get no returns; because bee¬ 
keeping, perhaps as much as any business, 
depends greatly upon weather conditions. 
For this reason it is not advisable for any 
beginner to rely on bees as a sole means of 
livelihood. True it is that there are many 
beekeeping specialists; but they are men 
who have gradually grown into the busi¬ 
ness, and, as a general rule, have an espe¬ 
cially favorable location, keeping from 200 
to 1,000 or more colonies. 
The keeping of bees is generally more 
successfully carried on in connection with 
