158 City Homes on Country Lanes 



find no pasture in a crowded city. Many mistakenly 

 think the city bee subsists on garbage barrels or other 

 unsanitary sources of suppl\\ The truth is that they 

 find flowers and other clean things to feed upon ; and 

 it is a well-known fact, of course, that they often 

 travel a long distance for their food. These are ex- 

 treme instances of the intensive cultivation of the honey- 

 bee, which only emphasize its practical utility in the 

 economy of the garden home. 



Sugar, of course, as much as milk, and far more 

 than meat, is an essential in every household. The 

 fluctuating, and often soaring, price of sugar is one 

 of the acute points in high cost of living. The home 

 in the garden should be as free from the exactions of 

 the sugar trust as possible. And if honey does not 

 satisfy every palate, or meet every household need, 

 it can be made to go a very long way in that direction. 

 It is most unusual to hear any one complain of getting 

 too much honey ; and quite common to hear people 

 say that they have never had enough. There is no 

 reason in the world why the home gardener should not 

 be as independent in this respect as in the matter of 

 meat, eggs, vegetables and fruit. 



As in the case of poultry, eggs and rabbits, the bee 

 industry has its organizations, local and national, its 

 periodicals and literature. It even has its poets and 

 romanticists, as every one knows who has read Maurice 

 Maeterlinck's charming book, "The Life of the Bee." 

 Like all other departments in our new art of little- 

 landing, the honeybee has evolved its specialists and 

 enthusiasts, who find their highest satisfaction in this 

 line of work and enjoy wide reputation as authorities. 



