PRACTICAL PAPERS—BEE-KEEPING. 
307 
avail ourselves of the instincts of this little insect. To keep 
bees unskill fully, either in small or large quantities, is unprofi¬ 
table. To manage them well, is to make money in the exact 
ratio of the numbers kept. 
There is little danger of overstocking a country productive 
of bee-forage. Five hundred, or even a thousand swarms can 
be kept in a single apiary with marked success. 
A colony of bees will not unfrequently add to the weight of 
a hive six pounds of honey in a day. This must, however, 
be regarded as an extra yield. But from the experience of 
the oldest bee-keepers, a well managed apiary ought to aver¬ 
age twenty-five pounds of surplus honey to each colony, and 
during the same season throw out one good, early swarm. 
This for successful bee-keeping is a moderate estimate. 
The honey from basswood and white clover, in boxes, at 25 cts. ^ $6 25 
The new swarm. 5 00 
Total.Ill 25 
This is about what the profits of bee-keeping should be 
when managed on scientific principles—a munificent reward 
on the capital and labor. The bee costs no more labor or ex¬ 
pense than that skill which will enable the keeper to preserve 
the colony in its normal condition during the vicissitudes of 
our climate. Suitable hives can always be had for this pur¬ 
pose. The balance of his treatment is not so much labor, as 
attention. Bestow this on him, and he will not only supply 
his own wants, but yours also. But what are the profits of 
bee-keeping in Wisconsin—not what they may be, but what 
they really are, among those who devote their time and atten¬ 
tion to the pursuit ? Even with those most conversant with 
the subject, the profits are, on the average, comparatively mea¬ 
gre. Mr. Adam Grimm, of Jefferson county, a few years 
since, claimed that seven pounds of surplus honey was as 
large as 500 or 1,000 colonies would yield on the average. 
Even this might be considered a fair compensation to the bee¬ 
keeper. The account would then stand thus : 
