IMl^Oirr.iNCE OP BEE-KEEPING. 189 



may safely say that oftentimes there are hundreds of 

 tons of honey in our fields. and orchards that are 

 wasted. The apple and other fruit-trees in the spring, 

 the bean and clover fields in the summer, and the 

 lime-trees later on, to say nothing of hundreds of 

 other kinds of flowers, are all full to overflowing of 

 precious nectar, but there are not bees to gather it. 

 And it is not as if these flowers could give up their 

 supply only once, for nature is so bountiful that, as men- 

 tioned before, bees may come again and again, and find 

 the little storehouse replenished. It is the voice of the 

 flowers to the bee, ' Take away all my sweets, and yet 

 come again, for some more will very soon be ready for 

 you.' 



What a pity it seems that there should be such 

 waste of Nature's good gifts ! It is waste also of that 

 which might bring many a comfort to those who need. 

 The cottager, who oftentimes has hard enough work to 

 make ends meet, and can only do so by great care, 

 might very well add something to his store by 

 keeping a few hives. It would cost him but little 

 time, or only such time as his wife or elder children 

 could give. We may almost say that the money for 

 his rent, or the money for his children's shoes, is lying 

 there in the fields, every flower containing its little mite 

 ready for him, if only he would keep the busy workers 

 who are ready most willingly to gather it for him. 



And, besides all this, it is doubtless true that, if 

 more bees were kept, there would be yet greater crops 

 of good fruit in many an orchard and garden. We 

 see an orchard white with lovely blossoms, but a vast 

 number of these fall to the ground, and never develope 



