For beginners the cheaper bees are satisfactory. Later, nothing will be too good. A stand of bees can be bought for two dollars or three dollars, but a colony of choice Italians in a modern hive with tested queen may come as high as fifteen dollars. Better have them to sell than to buy at that price.
There are cheaper ways of getting them than buying them. If a runaway swarm which no owner claims, alights in your yard the bees may be yours by right of discovery and if you hive them successfully, by right of possession. This method though practised by some has not the sanction of the golden rule, and is not here recommended. What fun it would be, though, to secure a runaway swarm and make the visitors comfortable in a temporary hive. You would probably find they belonged in the apiary nearest you and ten to one the owner would just as soon you kept them unless they were a very choice kind. He will be so pleased that you were able to hive them that he will offer you something substantial for your work. He may give you the bees, and your bee-keeping will begin "by accident" as did the life-work of the famous veteran apiarist, Mr. A. I. Root.
Make a small beginning. Many successful bee-keepers had less than twenty dollars to begin with. One colony is a start. It is astonishing how quickly bees begin to "pay their way" and this test ought to be applied in all your ventures. Keep a strict account of all your expenditures in supplies, and credit the bees with all the honey you take off and with the new swarms. If I say this often, it is because it must be repeated to fix its importance in the mind. If you make good interest on your money you know it is safely invested. If, however, you charge up your time against the bees you must credit them with the fun you have, the outdoor exercise you get in caring for them and the consequent freedom from doctor bills.
THE BEST PLACE FOR BEES
You will read of keeping bees on a city roof, in a suburban attic, and on boats; but the most natural place for them is in the village or country, where fields of clover, groves of basswood, and patches of buckwheat abound. An orchard or large garden is incomplete without a few hives. The young bee-keeper with these advantages is to be congratulated; the conditions are ideal. All he needs is a liking for bees and spunk.
Before you get the first colony decide where your apiary is to be located. Even one hive must have a place and you must plan for increase. An orchard is a fine place, and the hives should be at least fifty feet from the street or road, because bees do not recognize the laws of the open road and turn neither to the right nor to the left. If necessary to put them next the street or close to a neighbour's garden, there should be tall bushes, a hedge, or a high fence to protect the passers-by. Otherwise your venture into bee culture may make you "bad friends" with the neighbours and even carry you before the justice of the peace.
In very hot weather some shade is necessary for beehives, but too much shade may result in failure. The morning sun and the late afternoon sun are good for bees, but the heat of the mid-day sun may cause the comb to melt and bring disaster to bees young and old. As moving the active colonies is not always safe, it pays to make a plan in the beginning for the whole number you expect to have. This is a case where it is justifiable to "count your chickens before they are hatched." It will not take much imagination to draw a plan on paper locating the principal objects in and near the apiary-to-be, and to sketch in the location of the ten, fifteen, or twenty hives you are likely to have five years from now. If you have no large, deciduous trees to offer ideal shade you needn't give up the idea of keeping bees. With the modern ventilated covers, bees are successfully kept out in the sun, if protected from wind and storms. A grape arbour affords good protection. It should run from east to west. Any trellis with quick growing vines like hops, Virginia creeper, or grapes, will serve well. Grapes give best return as they bear fruit and their blossoms supply honey in season. Where no natural shade is possible a shade board or air-spaced cover supplies the lack. A shade board can be made of any old box material. Lay a couple of sticks across the top of the hive to rest the shade board on and to let the air circulate.
Wind is worse for bees than too much sun. Bless the pioneers of the windy country if, by reason of their forethought, you have a real evergreen windbreak on your place. If you have not this ideal windbreak, a building will serve, or your hedge or high board fence should be on the windy side.
If you start, as many have, with one or two colonies let them face the south or east and leave space enough between the hives to run a lawn mower. As your number increases, your original plan may be changed, but it always pays to make the plan.
Try to consider, in the arrangement of the hives, not only convenience but beauty. If a board fence is necessary, train vines to cover its bare ugliness; a fringe of low shrubs will help make it beautiful. As your apiary grows, experience will teach you how to group the hives to get the best results. Twenty hives grouped in fives under the north side of four big, spreading apple trees would be the ideal I would set for myself if the orchard was ready for occupancy. If I began at the age of fourteen years, I could easily reach this ideal in six years and keep my other duties up, too. By that time I should know whether I wanted to be a bee-keeper or not. A great many people find that the chicken business combines well with some other business or profession. It is surprising that more people do not consider bee-keeping in the same way. Barring accidents, bees are far easier to handle, cleaner, and they board themselves. You can leave them over Sunday without any qualms of conscience and without arranging with somebody to feed and water them. The bees will not get out and scratch up your garden or your neighbour's, but they will do work in the garden that is too fine for your hands to tackle, and your crops will be bigger because of their visits. Chicken owners always sleep with one ear open, expecting night prowlers to appear and carry off their best stock. But who ever heard of a burglar alarm on a beehive? There are honey thieves, but they are not common.