FAEMERS' INSTITUTES. 87 



And, now. what is honey ? It is not necessary to define the term in scientific 

 language. It is suflicient to say that is a yery desirable sweet, gathered by bees 

 from flowers. It is stored by tlieni in tubes of wax of purest white, and is not 

 only beautiful to look ujion, pleasant to the taste, and a graceful addition to 

 the i^leasnres of any repast. It is relished as an article of food by nearly every 

 member of the human family, and has been held in the highest estimation from 

 the earliest ages to the present time. Allusions to it are frequent in profane 

 and sacred writings, and I will digress for a moment to allude to some of the 

 latter. 



AVhen the patriarch Jacob desired favors of the ruler of Egj^^t, he said to his 

 sons: ''Do this: carry dov\'n the man a present, a little balm, a little lioney, 

 spices, and myrrh, and almonds." 



The psalmist Daml, in the nineteenth psalm, speaks of the "judgments of 

 the Lord as sweeter than honey and the honey-comb;" and when Solomon 

 would find a fitting simile for "pleasant words," he says that "they are as an 

 honey-comb, sweet to the soul." 



It is said of John the Baptist that his food was "Locusts and wild honey;" 

 and as it is recorded by the Evangelist Luke, the last article of food eaten by 

 our Lord, and just before his ascension into heaven, was a piece of honey-comb. 



Honey exists all around us. It lies in tiny drops in the folds of nearly every 

 flower. It is probably much more abundant than we are aAvare of, although 

 many apiarians maintain a contrary opinion. But it is my belief that there are 

 but few localities, at least in this State, where there is not honey enough to sup- 

 ply a few swarms of bees on every farm. 



And what are bees? I need not define by the terms laid down in the books. 

 Tliey are sufliciently well knoAA^n for all practical pui-jwses. Bees are the agents, 

 and the only agents, by which honey can be obtained. Tlicy work with pro- 

 digious energy and industry, and when honey is abundant, they Avill store it in 

 almost incredible quantities, and when suitable room is proAided, they Avill store 

 a handsome sui-plus for their owners. Besides this, they have the instinct to 

 increase and form new colonies or swarms, and any kind of a box, or hollow 

 log, or barrel, if it be clean, and free from offensive odors, Avill be accepted by 

 them as a home. They are democratic in their tastes, and are perfectly indiffer- 

 ent to the beauties of rural architecture. So that no farmer need hesitate about 

 keej)ing bees on account of hi\'es. Any old box Avill do, though it is not the 

 best by any means. Of the profits of bee-keeping in proper hands, with good 

 hives, and in good locations, and with every condition just riglit, there can be 

 no question. Now, giA'en honey in abundance, bees enough to gather it, and it 

 would seem that bee-keeping must be for the farmer a very attractiA'e pursuit. 

 Bees work early and late. They fly at Avill over hill, and valley, and plain. 

 They gather only what would otherAnse go to waste. They enrich themselves 

 and their oAA'ners, and impoverish no one. They are, moreover, very useful in 

 the fertilization of floAA'ers. It AA^ould seem, therefore, that the farmer has e'veiy 

 IncentiA'e to become a bee-keeper ; and so he would have AA^ere there no dark 

 shade to this otherAAUse fair picture. I am here to answ^er the question, "Shall 

 farmers keep bees?" I am, in one sense, on the witness stand, and it is incum- 

 bent on me to present both sides. I cannot, in truth, plead entire ignorance in 

 the matter of bee-keeping, although the more experience I liaA'e the more I am 

 convinced that I stand only on the threshold of the science. The labors of 

 agriculturists haA^e done more in the last qiiarter of a century to unfold the mys- 

 teries of the bee hive than has been done before since the Avorld began ; yet it 



