BEE-KEEPING AND THE SIMPLE LIFE 271 



recollection ; — but now, look how all was changed ! 

 He waved a triumphant, proudly proprietary arm 

 around him. The cottage was sound and well 

 furnished throughout. The three or four bought 

 hives, with which he had started his business, had 

 multiplied into sixty or seventy, all made by his 

 own hands. Where had he got the bees ? Well, 

 that threepenny book had taught him a secret — 

 the art of bee-driving. Nearly all the cottagers 

 for miles round were in the habit of sulphuring 

 their bees to get at the honey. The first autumn, 

 and every autumn since then, he had gone to his 

 neighbours and told them he would take the bees 

 out of the hives for them, and leave them all the 

 combs and a good trink-geld into the bargain, if 

 they would let him have the bees for his trouble. 

 And they were more than willing. And thus he 

 had gradually built up his little principality of 

 hives. 



But, the profit of the thing ? This, indeed, 

 was nothing much to boast of He sold all the 

 honey and wax he got, sending it away, for the 

 most part, by post, and extending the circle of his 

 custom by little and little with every year. Taking 

 the bad years with the good, he had made a 

 net return of £2 for every hive ; in bumper- 

 seasons it was always much more. It was not a 

 great deal, but there were only three of them, and 

 their wants were simple. Their greatest needs — 

 fresh air, peace, and quiet, the healthful life of the 



