My Bees 13? 



honey from the hive and sell it to the mis- 

 guided people who keep no hives of their own. 

 Another little book told of a bright young city 

 man who gave up the delights of the theatre and 

 base-ball matches to retire to the country with a 

 hive of bees ; he emerged five years later with 

 something like a fortune made out of honey. 



The first supply was to be the only cost 

 of the enterprise beyond that of the hives 

 in which to place other swarms, and the little 

 boxes which are put in the hives to receive the 

 honey. I was assured that very few people 

 who took hold of the business gave it up be- 

 cause of the stings they received, and that, if I 

 could take the opinion of all bee-keepers upon 

 the subject, I would find that it was virtually a 

 chorus of praise in honor of this industry, which 

 is almost literally as old as the hills, and yet 

 has been completely revolutionized, turned up- 

 side down, within the last twenty years. For 

 centuries people had gone on allowing bees to 

 do as they thought fit. Twenty years ago an 

 inventive genius discovered that the bees knew 

 nothing about making the most of their time, 

 and were living a life of riotous idleness. 



