44 A MANUAL OF BEE-KEEPING. 



the old barbarous system of Bee slaughter will be quite 

 a thing of the past. 



When a man thinks of starting Bee-keeping, he 

 generally has an eye to profit, and the question is com- 

 monly asked : " How much honey shall I get per hive ? " 

 Now this question is more easily asked than answered, 

 the result being dependent on so many circumstances 

 over some of which we have no control. Moreover, 

 many think they have only to obtain a hive of Bees, set 

 it down in the garden, and giving it no further attention, 

 profit must, as a matter of course, ensue. This is a 

 great mistake ; the farmer sows his seed with the same 

 end in view, " profit." Nature makes the seeds to grow, 

 but without attention from the farmer but a poor crop 

 would be gathered in. We buy poultry, feed and attend 

 them, and profit by their eggs and increase, but we get 

 none of these advantages without a proper share of 

 attetition and expenditure. Thus with Bee-keeping ; 

 thousands of Bee-keepers in England, belonging to the 

 agricultural labouring classes, keep Bees, give them the 

 minimum of attention, and make but small profit ; and 

 the educated Bee-keeper, unless he follow a more rational 

 plan, must not expect a better result. 



Mr. Pettigrew, in his ' Handy Book on Bees,' wherein 

 he advocates the use of straw skeps only, talks of the 

 contents of these hives commonly weighing from lOO to 

 150 pounds, and instances a swarm in its first season 

 reaching 160 pounds in weight; he also states that at a 

 village in Lanarkshire, the profits of Bee-keeping averaged 

 in six consecutive years, £2 lis. 8d. per hive. I can 

 only say I never saw such hives, and none have made 

 their appearance at the British Beekeepers' Association's 

 Shows, where they could not have failed to take many 

 prizes; and the Beekeeper who allows his expectations 



