Semi-weekly interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1881-1905, 1892-04-22
BEES.
Mistakes omen Made by Beekeepers he
ginning Business.

ginning Business. .
A beginner is quite likely TO fall into
the error of increasing his colonies too
rapidly. There is probably no mistake
80 disastrous as this. on account Of its
frequency and results. To the beginner
this is very tempting ground. IL bee
keeping must he learned 10y experience
and reading, without the serving of an
apprenticeship, the beginning should
be small, and practical knowledge and
skill should keen pace with the increase
of colonies. a common mistake is TO
look upon beekeeping rs a sort of royal
road TO wealth. or at least to good liv-
ing, with little labor and, as some seem
to think, little brains, after they have
once learned a few secrets" To choose
any business simply because it is profit
able is folly. A business that is unusu-
ally profitable does not long remain so.
1t soon becomes overcrowded and loses
its bonanza character. A man should
choose a business because he and his
surroundings are best adapted 10 the
pursuit.
If great yield per colony is the re-
that the work was done at loss. II
may sometimes be profitable to put a
great deal of work ON each colony, but
each beekeeper should ask himself,
How, all things considered. can / make
the most profit? That is the question,
and all other propositions lot relating
directly thereto are mistakes. And this
leads TO the mention of the opposite
mistake of keeping too few bees. In.
stead Of keeping only few swarms
and striving 10 secure the largest yields
per colony, ii is often more profitable,
when one Is accustomed to the business,
TO keep more bees-enough to gather all
the honey produced in a given area.
And then. when the said area is over
stocked, IL is probably mistake not 10
start other ariaries.
Another mistake is that of choosing
hives, implements and methods that are
complicated and require much time for
their manipulation. \ most common
error in this line is in trying to adapt
hives to bees 20 an extent which almost
entirely ignores the adaptability of the
hive to the aeekeeper. We do not keep
bees nor arrange their hives with a view
to saving them labor, but that we may
get the most honey with the least labor
10 ourselves. Dove tops. queen tops,
self hiyers, queen excluders, smokers
and many other contrivances are proba-
bly, not considered handy" by the bees,
but their use is an advantage to us.
1t is in line with this method of rea-
soning that causes some beekeepers to
make the mistake Of condemning any
practice that is not according TO ma
ture." The system Of modern bee cul-
ture is wholly artificial. In some things
il is advisable TO allow nature 10 have
her own way, in others it is not, and we
have the best success when we have
learned just where we can advantage
ously, 10 certain extent, modify ma
lures methods Ii is a mistake TO have
undue confidence in the leaders in bee
culture. They may err, or some I'M
known circumstances may cause differ
ent results at different times in other
localities. 1t is mistake 10 pin ones
faith blindly to another's.
One expensive mistake, yet one that
is easily avoided, is made year after
year by many beekeepers, and that is in
not securing hives, sections, foundations
and other supplies in season.-W. z.
Hutchinson.