316 STATE BOAED OF AGKICULTUKE. 



And among insect?, especially bees, the instincts and habits are so inexplicable 

 and niarvelons, that the student of this department of nature never ceases to 

 meet with exhibitions that startle him, no less with wonder than Trith admiration. 

 Show me a scientific jjee-keeper, and I will show you an enthusiast. A thorough 

 study of the wonderful economy of the hive, must from its very nature go hand 

 In hand with delight and admiration. Said I, a short time since, to an exten- 

 sive apiarist Avhoalso owns a fine large farm, "^^ Why do you keep bees?" The 

 reply was characteristic : "Even could I not make a good deal the most money 

 from my bees, I should still keep them for the real pleasure they luring me." 



Again, there is no other manual labor pursuit in which the returns are so 

 large, comioared with tlie labor and expense. An experienced apiarist may 

 invest in bees anv spring in Michigan, with the absolute certainty of more than 

 •doubling his investment the first season, while a net gain of four hundred per 

 cent, causes no surprise to the bee-keepers of our State. During the past season 

 an investment in bees has returned to me five hundred per cant., and though 

 this has been a good season for honey, yet I have done better than this several 

 times. K"o less than three farmers of our State who possess good improved 

 iarms, and also keep about one hundred colonies of bees, have told me within 

 a few weeks that their income from their bees far exceeded that from their 

 farms. AYhat greater recommendation has any vocation? Money getting, even 

 Avith the greatest privations is attractive, aud is slighted by no class. Money 

 getting, with labor that brings, in itself, constant delight, leaves little to be 

 desired. 



Bee-keeping, too, on a limited scale, demands very little time; and since the 

 pleasures would be just as great with but few colonies, no one would object to 

 thus add to his income. I know, in fact, of no business (and I speak from 

 experience) that is so convenient aud desirable as an avocation. To the man 

 with sedentaiy habits, it brings wholesome exercise ; to the man tied to an 

 office, air and exercise ; to the clerk and factory hand, or others, whose lives 

 are monotonous and machine-like, it gives occasion for intellectual efijort ; and, 

 in inciting to thought and study, makes them feel more truly that they are 

 men. To our sisters, it offers all the above attractions, and, more, may serve 

 to drive the wolf from the door. To all of us, who become successful apiarists, 

 it spreads an intellectual feast that the old philosophers would have cn^ded, fur- 

 nishes the rarest food for the observing faculties, and brings us into that inti- 

 mate communion with nature which is never-failing in its tendency to refine the 

 tastes, elevate the feelings, and ennoble manhood. 



WHAT SUCCESSFUL BEE-KEEPING REQUIRES. 



!N"o one should commence this business who is not willhig to read, think, and 

 study. To be sure, the unthinking may stumble on success for a time, but 

 sooner or later failure will set her seal upon his efforts. Those of our apiarists 

 who have studied the hardest, observed the closest, and thought the deepest, 

 have even passed the late terrible winters with but slight loss. 



Prompt attention to the needs of his industrious little servants, is another 

 absolute requh-ement. To be sure, this attention is slight, and so is apt to be 

 neglected; but always with loss, — often with disaster. That '-'bees work for 

 nothing and board themselves" is only comparatively true. Their demands 

 are indeed light ; but they 7nust he met. 



Enthusiasm, or real love for the business, is another requisite. This is a 

 plant whose growth, with the least opportunity, is sure. It only demands per- 



