University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1910-09-28
HOW BEES CREATE RICHES

Government Publishes Interesting
Facts Upon the Subject.
There is money in bee keeping If it
is managed properly.
| Bee keeping is being carried on with
both profit and pleasure by many thou
sands OF people in all parts of the
United States, and while, as rule, it
is not the sole occupation of those who
pursue it, there are many places where
an experienced bee keeper can make
a good living by devoting his entire
time and attention to this line of work.
The average annual honey yield per
colony for the entire country should
be from twenty-five to thirty pounds
of comb honey, or forty to fifty pounds
of extracted honey. The money return
to be obtained from this crop depends
entirely on the market and the meth
DDS of selling the honey. If sold di-
rect to the consumer, extracted honey
brings from 10 to 20 cents per pound.
and comb honey from Is to rs cents
per section. If sold to dealers, the
price varies from 6 to 10 cents for
extracted honey and from 10 to Is
cents for comb honey.
All these estimates depend largely
on the quality and neatness of the
product. From the gross return must
be deducted from so cents to 81 per
colony for the expenses other than
labor, including. foundation, sections,
occasional new frames and hives and
other ,incidentals, not however, pro
viding for increase. .--..---,-
These figures are based on system
of good management. Bee keeping to
be profitable requires hard work,
knowledge and experience. Much
study is required to insure success.
1t lis unwise, therefore, for the aver
age individual to undertake extensive
bee keeping without considerable pre-
vious experience on a, small scale,
since there are so many more details
which go to make up success in the
work
Learn the ways of bees, how to han
die them, and what kind of equipment
is best. Then begin on a small scale,
make tho bees pay for themselves and
for additional apparatus, as well as
some profit, and let the business grow
gradually.
Above all, it should be emphasized
that the only way to make bee keep
ing profitable business is to produce
only a first-class article. We cannot
control what the bees bring to the
hive to any great extent, but by proper
manipulation we can get them to pre-
duce fancy comb honey, or if extracted
honey is produced it can be carefully
cared for and neatly packed to appeal
to the fancy trade.
Too many bee keepers, in fact the
majority, pay too little attention to
making their goods attractive. They
should recognize the fact that of two
jars of honey, one in an ordinary fruit
jar or tin can with poorly printed
label, and the other in a neat glass
jar of artistic design with a pleasing,
attractive label, the latter will bring
double or more the extra cost of the
better package. 1t is, perhaps, unfor-
tunate, but nevertheless a fact that
honey sells largely on appearance, and
a progressive bee keeper will appeal as
as possible to the eye of his
customer.
:, Much information along these and
other lines in bee keeping can be found
in a new publication of the department
Of agriculture, farmers bulletin 397,
entitled Bees" The aim of this work
Is to give briefly the information
needed by persons engaged in the
keeping of bees, and to answer inqui-
riesr that are frequently received from
correspondents of the department. It
discusses the location, equipment and
stocking of the apiary, the habits of
bees and their manipulation, the pro-
duction of honey and wax, wintering
and diseases and injuries. 1t also
gives such general information as how
to obtain and introduce queens, laws
affecting bee keeping and journals and
books on the subject.