MY BEES. 



A S I have already said elsewhere, my bees 

 ** have contributed a few dollars a year to 

 my income, and have given me a great many 

 pounds of honey and no little amusement. 

 Some five or six years ago a newspaper para- 

 graph concerning the large amount of money 

 to be made by raising bees and selling their 

 honey caught my eye, and I had the curiosity 

 to look up the only firm in this part of the 

 country which at that time made a business of 

 selling hives fitted out with bees. My investi- 

 gation resulted in the purchase of a hive con- 

 taining a swarm of pure Italian honey-bees 

 warranted to do justice to their reputation as 

 indefatigable workers, and to make my fortune 

 if I looked after them with intelligence and 

 perseverance. The people from whom I bought 

 my first hive were full of information as to the 

 vast amount of honey and, of course, profit I 

 was to get from my investment ; they said 

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