76 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



PROFITABLE BEE KEEPING. 



BY MR. CHARLES STEWART, JOHNSTOWN, N. Y. 



Shakespeare savs : — 



So work the honey bees; 



Creatures, that by a rule in natui'e teach the art of order to a 



peopled kingdom. 

 They have a king and officei's of sorts; 

 Where some, like magistrates, correct at home; 

 Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad; 

 Others, like soldiers, anued in their stings, 

 Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds; 

 Which pillage they, with merry march, bring home, 

 To the tent royal of their emperor; 

 Who, busied in his majesty, surveys 

 The singing masons building roofs of gold; 

 The civil citizens kneading up the honey; 

 The poor mechanic porters crowding in their heavy bnixlens at 



his narrow gate; 

 The sad-ey'd justice, with his surly hum. 

 Delivering o'er to executors pale the lazy yawning drone. 



But the talk I propose to give you to-day will be along 

 practical rather than poetical lines. It wonkl be the height 

 of inconsistency to attempt to teach you how to make a busi- 

 ness profitable had I not been successful, and I hoyie that after 

 years spent among the bees and bee keepers I may l>e able to 

 offer some suggestions here that will bring dividends to you 

 in the years to come. 



To be a successful bee keeper one should be enterprising 

 and industrious and learn to do the right thing at the right 

 time. 



Many people fail in this pursuit, not so much from a lack 

 of knowledge as from not giving the necessary attention at 



