Britain at Work
A Pictorial Description of Our National Industries

BRITAIN recommended as a thing to rely upon, but any person favourably situated and well quali- fied to enter into it with intelligence and thoroughness may easily make a small bee- farm a source of income. There are thousands of cottagers who are able to pay their rent out of their beehives, and there are not a few who do a great deal more than that; but then they are people who not only are specially well situated as regards their rural surroundings, but they have exceptional qualifications for the work. It is of no use for any person to attempt bee-culture who will not make it a subject of intelligent study and will not go to the trouble of thoroughly understanding bce-lifc in all its curious and interesting phases. Bee-keeping as . our rural grandfathers understood it is 4 all out of date; all the appliances of /fl the business have been modernised out S of recognition, as will readily be agreed > by anyone visiting such an establishment M as that of Messrs. Abbott Brothers, W whose place at Southall we were recently v permitted to inspect for the purpose of this article. Old-fashioned methods of honey production are now quite aban- doned by intelligent apiarists. The old straw “ skeps ” of the pictorial cottage garden are, it is true, still adhered to by some ; but even they have changed AT WORK. their form, and the bee-keeper who should now stifle the population of his hives with sulphur fumes in order to appropriate their honey would be accounted a mere barbarian at the work. Of course, it may be well worth while to keep bees, quite apart from any question of direct profit from them. Not only are the little creatures an extremely interesting study, but it is now well understood that they play a very important part in the fertilisation of fruit trees, and a hive of bees near a garden will often enormously increase the crop of fruit. If, however, it is intended to set up a bee farm as a paying hobby or a serious business, the first thing it is necessary to consider is whether the locality is likely to afford them an abundant supply of that nectar from which honey is elaborated in the body of the bee. It is not merely a patch of flowers here and there that will keep a well-stocked apiary thriving. Bees will travel from their hives about two miles in any direction, and if they find anywhere within that radius large ex- panses of bloom in continuous succession all through the spring and summer, they will store enough not only for their own winter food, but if properly managed a large surplus for their keeper’s profit. But in situations where there is no great amount of bloom within a mile or two it is of no use to start bee-keeping with any idea of making it pay.