INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Before you send your album through the necessary channels, you need to make sure that it is polished and presentable. Create album artwork for it, edit all the song titles, and add a description if necessary. Selling your music on iTunes can be fairly simple even for amateur artists, but you will have a great deal of competition to deal with, and your odds of having success will improve vastly if you make sure that your songs are in top condition. If you have no experience with mastering and do not know how to polish the music up to commercial standards by yourself, hire an engineer or specialist to do it for you. Convert the files to WAV, set at a 44.1 kHz sample rate and 16 bit sample size. You can convert your audio files in iTunes by importing them to the library using the WAV encoder, set to custom settings. You also need cover artwork and complete track credits to submit before an online service will help you add your music to the iTunes store. You must have rights to the artwork. Aim to make the cover image a JPG file set to 1,000 by 1,000 pixels. Before you can sell your album, it needs to have a UPC code. Fortunately, obtaining one is pretty easy. You can obtain one by registering directly with the Uniform Code Council, or you can ask a CD manufacturer or distributor if they offer the service. The latter may prove to be a cheaper option. You can also get a UPC online through various online distributors like CD Baby or DiscMakers, and these tend to be even cheaper options. Working with Apple directly usually requires you to have a professional label backing you, or at least enough experience to prove that you are a professional. Even if you do not qualify to work with Apple directly, though, you can still work through a third party. If you weren't able to get through the previous step yourself, get in touch with an aggregator, or a third-party distributing service that allows you to finish and distribute your music for a small fee. Check the Apple iTunes application page for a list of approved aggregators. There are many to choose from, each offering different services at different prices, but TuneCore, CDBaby, and Songcast are among the most popular. These will usually require you to pay a fee, but there are other aggregators like ADEDistribution that also provide a limited free service with few additional services. When looking for an aggregator, stick with a company that allows you to retain your rights. If you sign over the rights to your music, you will no longer be able to alter or use it as you please. Aggregators that allow you to keep all or nearly all of the royalties are also considered preferable since you will be able to earn more money off each sale. Read the fine print. No matter how popular or frequently used an aggregator is, you should read all the fine print about costs, fees, and legal matters before subscribing to the service. If you do not understand the legal aspect of things, find an acquaintance who does or hire a law professional to review it with you.

SUMMARY: Give your music a professional finish. Make sure that your music is properly formatted. Add the final touches. Get a UPC code. Review Apple's application. Find an Apple-approved aggregator (optional).

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Winnie the Pooh and his bear friends aren't the only animals who like honey. Protecting your bees from predators can ensure the vitality of your colony and a fruitful harvest. Use the following solutions to keep bee predators at bay: Put up electric barriers or chicken-wire fences to keep bears, opossums, and skunks away. Elevate hives to keep opossums and skunks out of the hives. Place birdfeeders away from hives. There may be a slight gap in time between when you introduce your bees to their hive and plants begin producing nectar. During these few weeks, feed your bees with a 1:1 mixture of water and sugar. Punch holes in the top of the hive and hang small food jars with the mixture from them. This can ensure your bees have nutrition until they can access nectar. Check the hive as often as you like. This could be once between spring introduction and fall harvesting or every day if you prefer. This can ensure your hive is flourishing, building a strong comb, and doesn't have any pests or other problems. During your check-ups of the hive, look for signs of illness, parasite infestation or other animals accessing your hive. This can help you nip potential problems in the bud before they affect your hive. Some signs of issues with your hive include: Misplaced bars Weakened colony Visible hive beetles or wax moths on the comb Lack of larvae Deformed wings . Take out the long, flat hive frames in the fall. Scoop off the honeycomb and wax into a container or bucket with a hot knife. Then allow the honey to gradually sink to the bottom of the container and remove the wax cappings that remain. This will give you delicious, raw honey to eat and wax cappings you can turn into candles or other items. Set the wax capping on a sieve or filter to strain out bits of the capping from the raw honey. Get an extractor if you prefer to strain your honey into a spigot and keep the wax separate.

SUMMARY:
Ensure your bees' safety from critters with barriers. Feed your bees as necessary. Monitor the hive at regular intervals. Watch for potential problems. Harvest Honey