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While we are on sure ground in pointing to variation in character 
as exhibited in the bees, we are equally on sure ground in dealing 
with variation in the character of men. . : 
We cannot blind ourselves to the fact that the elements of 
success or otherwise in any direction lie rather in the man than 
in his surroundings. I say this because of a very general but 
erroneous opinion that “ bees work for nothing, and board them- 
selves,” therefore easily reached profits are available. This, sir, 
is not so. Nature is not so prodigal in any direction. Bee- 
keeping, with money to be got out of it, must result from applied 
knowledge and industry. When these are united there is little 
fear but the profits—and good profits—for labour expended are 
to be reaped ; but let not the careless or slipshod expect much 
from the beehive. 
The first factor named—the crop—is one which claims our 
especial and careful attention, because we at once must look at 
comparative values, and our relation to other parts of the world 
producing a like crop. 
We begin sadly to know the relative value of wheat-growing 
and the cost of production compared to other wheat-producing 
countries. And so all along the line our first consideration is, 
the relation we bear to other parts of the world which can produce 
a like article to that we desire to produce. The question arises. 
—Can we produce honey in quality and quantity equal or 
superior to other parts of the world, or are we upon a lower 
standard? We ask this question because, if there is money in 
bee-keeping and profit to the State—that money must be won 
from an outside market—an aim less than this is not worth 
striving for. 
The possibilities of comparison which lie within reach must 
for the present be confined to figures which reach us from the 
United States, from whence we draw our inspiration of the entire 
subject as now presented on commercial lines—the production 
and consumption of honey as an article of food having grown 
enormously during the past twenty years. In Langstroth Honey 
Bee, recently revised by Dadant and Son, we find some comparative 
figures given at page 404 :—“ We have no official statistics of the 
honey crop of the United States, but the following extract from 
The American Bee Journal (1886) will give an idea of the 
immensity of our honey resources, considering the comparatively 
small area of this country now occupied by apiarists :—‘ The Cali- 
fornian Grocer says that the crop of 1885 was about 1,250,000 lbs. 
The foreign export from San Francisco during the year was 
approximately 8,800 cases. The shipments last year by rail were 
360,000 lbs. from San Francisco and 910,000 lbs. from Los 
Angelos, including both comb and extracted. We notice that. 
another Californian paper estimates the crop of 1885 at. 
