My Bees 151 



bee-culture, I have six hives completely filled 

 with bees and ready for the winter, which have 

 cost me in all $46, including the original out- 

 lay. During the five years I have spent exactly 

 eighty cents in food for the bees; when the 

 spring is very late, they sometimes require to 

 be helped along with a little candy. I estimate 

 the value of my plant at $100, and my honey 

 which remains for the winter's consumption at 

 $30. The time necessary to look after and 

 take care of six hives is certainly not more than 

 three hours a week, and the number of stings 

 received depends upon the caution and skill of 

 the bee-keeper. I have found that it is not 

 necessary to be stung at all, and that even 

 when a few bees do manage to sting, it is not 

 a very serious matter. Any man who wants a 

 most interesting hobby can find no end of in- 

 terest and some honey by getting a beehive 

 and putting it on the roof, even if he lives in 

 the city. Some years ago one of our down- 

 town janitors, who kept a small apiary on the 

 top of a big office building, had to give it up 

 because a neighboring candy-shop on Broadway 

 complained of the clouds of bees which the 



