34 A MANUAL OF BEE-KEEPING. 



The happy people in their waxen cells 



Sat tending public cares. 



Sudden, the dark, oppressive steam ascends, 



And used to milder scents, the tender race 



By thousands tumble from their honied dome 



Into a gulf of blue sulphurous flame." — Thomson. 



Tell an ignorant labourer that his honey can be got 

 from the hive, his Bees preserved to work for him again, 

 and that no more honey will be required to feed twenty 

 thousand than ten thousand little mouths during the 

 winter, and you would simply elicit an incredulous smile, 

 he certainly would not be induced to try, however lucidly 

 the process was explained ; but show him how to do it, 

 let him see the result, and he will another year, perha^, 

 follow the example set, greatly to his own benefit as well 

 as to that of his Bees. To all Bee-keepers who are 

 thinking men or women, I commend the following 

 chapters, which, carefully studied, will give every necessary 

 instruction by which they may become accomplished 

 Apiarians, and a centre of knowledge for the enlighten- 

 ment of others. 



What portion of our fertile land does not afford sus- 

 tenance for Bees } Mr. Alfred Neighbour in his work. 

 The Apiary, devotes a chapter to "Bee-keeping in 

 London." Could we ever imagine a more unpromising 

 field for honey gathering — London ! — foggy, smoky 

 London ! But think a moment ; London has parks, 

 squares, gardens; and each of these has trees, flowers, 

 and shrubs. What matters if the flowers be dirty, their 

 nectaries' secrete the coveted sweet, and the natural filter of 

 the Bees will clarify it better than any artificial one could 

 do. A lady living in Kensington, told me she kept Bees 

 there; they throve well, and had furnished her with a 

 super of fourteen pounds weight! — they are also kept in 

 the busy Strand next to Charing Cross Railway Station. 



