_First Principles in Beekeeping._--The beginner in bee husbandry should purchase established colonies from a reputable business concern or from beekeepers in the neighborhood of his home. He should begin in a small way with a few colonies, learn the business with a small investment and then increase as his liking for the work develops and the market for the product expands. Being able to read the signs at the entrance to the hive is the surest way to success. Too much manipulation is just as harmful as neglect. The novice in beekeeping who is really interested and follows carefully a few details gained from a reliable bee book should harvest at least 30 pounds of honey a year from each colony. Experts get much larger yields and have been known to secure 200 pounds per colony and 200 sections of comb honey from one hive. The deciding factor in producing honey is the skill of the watchful beekeeper, assuming of course that there is a sufficient supply of nectar-secreting blossoms in the area. The cost of engaging in bee husbandry is nominal. An established colony of the preferred Italian bees should cost about $8. The equipment should include two fitted supers for each colony in which the bees may store the honey, costing about $3 each; a veil to protect the head and face, linseed-oil-soaked canvas gloves, a bee smoker, a hive tool and a bee escape (needed for removing the bees from filled supers), each item costing less than a dollar. An additional piece of apparatus, a queen "excluder," is needed for each hive, to keep the queen in the lower chamber and prevent the mixing of stored honey surplus and developing bees. The principal nectar-secreting plants are the clovers, sumac, buckwheat, cranberry and blueberry blossoms, goldenrod, asters and mallows. Since these plants bloom at varying periods during the growing season, the beekeeper will find it necessary to adjust his operations in accordance with the nectar-producing capacity of his own region. The experience of successful beekeepers will be found helpful as a guide in taking the successive and orderly steps necessary to secure maximum honey crops. In many states there are associations of beekeepers formed for mutual advantage and the promotion of the industry. The novice can hardly expect to learn unless he affiliates himself with such groups and attends their meetings. Subscription to a good bee journal is also desirable. [Illustration: Colonies of honey bees located near the source of nectar supply.]