S6 OBSER VA TION NECESSAR J . 



CHAPTER XIV. 



INTELLIGENCE AND OBSERVATION NECESSARY. 



I MIGHT now tell you of the new and better way of bee- 

 keeping, and show you how even boys and girls may 

 so keep bees as to find, in the occupation, both interest 

 and amusement, and also earn something to put into 

 a savings bank, — as bees put honey into their cells, — 

 ready for a future time. But before I tell you of bee- 

 keeping I want you to understand bees, and so must 

 tell you something more than I have done yet, of their 

 natural history, their habits and instincts ;. also of the 

 structure of the several parts of their bodies, as, for 

 instance, the head, the mouth, the wings, the legs, the 

 sting ; and how each is wonderfully made and fitted 

 for the work it has to do. I must also tell you how 

 bees differ from other insects, having certain habits, 

 and certain parts of their structure, peculiar to them- 

 selves. 



You must take trouble to understand something 

 of all this, for the more you understand it, the more, I 

 know, you will take interest in the subject, and love 

 your bees. You will be able also to keep them better 

 and with more' profit, because you will manage them 

 intelligently ; you will know why you are to do this, 

 and why you are to do that, and why you are not to 

 do something dse. You will see a reason for every- 

 thing, and have a reason for all you do. 



It is the same with bee-keeping as with every other 

 occupation of life, you must understand first principles 



