362 PUECHASING STOCKS. 



WHY THE WORD LUCK IS APPLIED TO BEES. 



There has been so much uncertainty in stock of thia 

 kind, that the word Izuilc has been made to express too 

 much. Some hare been successful, while others have 

 failed entirely ; this has suggested the .idea that luck 

 depended on the manner that the stocks were obtain- 

 ed ; and here again there seems to be a variety of 

 opinions, as is the case always, when a thing is guessed 

 at. One will assert that the " fickle dame " is charmed 

 into favor by stealing a stock or two to begin withj 

 and . returning them after a start. Another, (a little 

 more conscientious, perhaps) that you must take them 

 without liberty, to be sure, but leave an equivalent in 

 money on the stand. Another, that the only way to 

 get up an effectual charm, is to exchange sheep for 

 them ; and still another says, that hees must always he a 

 gift. I have had all these methods offered me gratis, 

 with gravity, suitable to make an impression. And, 

 fi.nally, there has yet another method been found out, 

 and tha't is, when you want a few stocks of bees go 

 and buy them, yes, and pay for them too, in dollars 

 and cents, or take them for a share of the increase for 

 a time, if it suits your pecuniary resources besjt. And 

 you need not depend on any charm or mystic power 

 for your success— if you do, I cannot avoid the un- 

 favorable prediction of a failure. It is true that a few 

 have accidentally prospered for a few years ; I say acci 

 dentally, because when they have no triie principles of 

 management, it must be the result of accident. It.ia 

 a saying with some, that " one man can't have luck 

 but few years at once," and others none at all, although 



