164 AUSTRALIAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE- 



the want of capital never stands in the way. Looking at bee- 

 keeping as a hobby, it is not surrounded with the expense and 

 trouble that most other pastimes that are engaged in are. There 

 is no daily attention required, such as feeding, cleansing, etc. 

 No attention from the owner is necessary, as is the case in 

 poultry, during breeding season, and no particular mixture given 

 at regular intervals to ensure the best results in the increase, 

 which is always an important factor with all hobbies. With 

 l)ees the first expense need be the only one. 



It is an industry well adapted to the physically deformed 

 and the weak, and the delicate of both sexes. It is an out-door 

 occupation and, at the same time, an occupation that can only 

 be indulged in during fine weather. It offers a fine field to 

 ladies, of small means to augment their income, or at least, one 

 that will be an addition to house-keeping. I one time met a 

 lady who assured me that the earnings from her bees during 

 the year exceeded those of her husband, who was in regular em- 

 ployment. Not long ago, the daughters of a household informed 

 me that, after attending to their domestic duties, they at- 

 tended to their bees when it was necessary, and in addition to 

 using honey as a table luxury, they did all their fruit-preserving 

 with it, while the sale of the surplus kept them in clothes. Bee- 

 keeping is valuable where there is a family of children, if only 

 to give them something to do, and to train them to habits of 

 thrift. I before said people keep fowls for the sake of there 

 being a certainty of having new-laid eggs for breakfast. It is 

 -equally wise in these days of extensive adulteration to procure 

 all kinds of food in its purest form, and home-procured honey 

 offers one food that can be easily and cheaply obtained in its 

 native purity'. 



As an article of diet, especially where there is a family of 

 growing children, it should be much more largely used than it 

 is. It is both health-giving and invigorating. Its consump- 

 tion in these States is behind most of the European nations. We 

 do not appear to have acquired a taste for honey to any extent. 

 The partiality of the Americans for sweet things is proverbial. 

 There honey is placed upon the tables in the hotels and private 

 houses as regularly as tutter. The rural districts of United 

 States is a land literally "flowing with milk and honey." W© 

 have done wonders during the last few years in making this 

 State "flow with milk," and every possible effort has been made 

 iO secure for the butter industry, both for home consumption 



