^ Requisites to Bee-Keeping. 



money. Farmers are adding bee-keeping to their farms, 

 to find not infrequently that the bees are their most profit- 

 able property. The time required will of course depend 

 upon the number of colonies kept; but with wise manage- 

 ment, this time may be given at any time of the day or 

 week, and thus not interfere with the regular business. 

 Thus residents of country, village or city, male or female, 

 who enjoy the society and study of natural objects, and 

 wish to add to their income and pleasure, will find here an 

 ever waiting opportunity. 



WHO SHOULD NOT KEEP BEES. 



There are occasionally persons to whom the venom of 

 the bee is a serious poison. If such pei'sons are stung 

 anywhere their eyes swell so they cannot see, the skin 

 blotches, and serious irritation is felt over the entire body. 

 Such persons are often overcome with fever for several 

 days, and, though very rarely, the sting sometimes proves 

 fatal. It goes without saying that such persons should not 

 keep bees. 



It is a well known fact that the sting of the honey bee 

 becomes less and less poisonous the more one is stung. 

 The system becomes inoculated against the poison. My 

 own experience proves this most conclusively. Every bee- 

 keeper will receive occasional stings, but these become 

 more and more rare, and soon occasion neither fear nor 

 anxiety. 



INDUCEMENTS TO BEE-KEEPING. 



RECREATION. 



I name this first, as it was the pleasure in store that 

 led me to the art of keeping bees, though I was terribly 

 afraid of bees at the beginning. There is a rare fascina- 

 tion in the study of nature. Insect life is ever presenting 

 the most pleasurable surprises to those who study it. Bees, 

 from their wonderful instincts, curious structure and habits, 

 and the interesting relations which they sustain to vege- 

 table life, are most fascinating objects of study. The 



