332 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. [Ch. vi. 



bridge Wells awakened so much interest in this pleas- 

 ing pursuit, also commissioned us to exhibit a super 

 produced under his own management in that locality. 

 Mr. S. B. Fox, at Exeter, had upwards of four hundred 

 pounds of honey, of excellent quality, though one of his 

 apiaries is quite within the city. 



§ XII. GENERAL REMARKS. 

 Book-Keeping. 



Every bee-keeper should be a book-keeper, that is so 

 far as to have a permanent record of the events of the 

 apiary and the fortunes of his bees. A book similar to a 

 tradesman's journal would be very suitable for the pur- 

 pose. In it he should note down the date of the first 

 swarm of the season especially, and those of other swarms 

 also ; and in autumn the quantity of honey taken from 

 each hive should be entered, with remarks on the pro- 

 bable size and weight of the various stocks. These par- 

 ticulars will not only be interesting for • the bee-keeper to 

 turn to in winter, but will be of practical service in enabling 

 him to know the exact age and probable strength of each 

 stock. The bee-book may also be contrived to show the 

 total amount of honey that the bees have produced for 

 their owner, and the nett profits of the apiary. A simple 

 and clear account like this — provided, by the bye, that it 

 does show a satisfactory balance — will be very useful for 

 inducing cottagers and farm-labourers to start bee-keep- 

 ing. Nothing like ocular demonstration for this class. 



