THE MODERN BEE-FARM 261 



for diseases of the chest and throat. Thera- 

 peutic hints from laymen are generally looked upon 

 askance by medical men — at least, by those of the 

 old-fashioned type ; yet, on the chance that this 

 page may come under the eye of some of the more 

 elastic-minded, the thing may be hazarded. There 

 are many who believe in it, and with good reason, 

 as a sovereign specific where the disease is a wast- 

 ing one. It is nothing else than the once famous 

 Athole Brose, which, as all Scottish bee-keepers 

 know, consist of equal parts of good thick honey, 

 preferably from ling-heather, and of cream, and of 

 mature Scotch whisky from the pot-still. Little 

 and often is the rule for its administration, but, un- 

 like most old wife's remedies, faith has nothing to 

 do with its wonder-working. Scepticism is a soil 

 in which it seems to flourish as well as any. 



The man of business, resolved to take up bee- 

 keeping as a livelihood, must, at the outset, decide 

 on what scale he will carry the matter through. 

 There are two aspects of the thing, each more 

 alluring than the other, according to the tempera- 

 ment and point of view. There is the Simple 

 Life and the bee-garden — a life spent in the 

 green quiet of an English village, within reach ot 

 a market town, where the produce of the hives 

 may be disposed of. And there is the greater 

 enterprise, the foundation of a bee-farm on an 

 extensive scale, and on the most approved scien- 

 tific principles, where the object is to supply the 



