CHAPTER II. 



WHY KEEP BEES? 



Ample reasons for the extension of bee-culture are 

 adduced in the chapter on " Bees and Flowers," but 

 the direct financial results in a well-managed apiary 

 furnish probably a much greater inducement to many 

 persons to take up and prosecute successfully such a 

 well-paying hobby. In many industries the products 

 are of a perishable nature. Not so, however, with 

 bee-products, honey and wax. They may, when 

 properly packed, be transported to all parts, and at the 

 same time, should the state of the market render it 

 advisable, they may, without detriment to quality, be 

 stored away for sale at a future date. 



While no industry connected with rural occupations 

 is so interesting, from an intellectual standpoint, as 

 bee-culture, there is none which approaches it in the 

 profits on the outlay, when the time spent on the work 

 in the apiary is taken into consideration. The bee- 

 keeper has only to provide a home for his bees, and 

 receptacles in which they may store their surplus, and 

 they will roam afield, gathering honey in abundance 

 from morning till night. In most districts some honey- 



