334 PUTECHASING STOCKS AND TEANSPOETING BEES. 



A third assures us, that the only way to secure an 

 effectual chami, is to exchange sheep for them ; and a 

 fourth affirms that bees must always he a gift. These 

 methods have all heen recommended to me, with gravity 

 enough to make an impression. 



But another method has been discovered, which works 

 very well, and that is, when you want bees, go and buy 

 them, and pay for them, in dollars and cents, or some 

 other equivalent. And you need not depend on any 

 mysterious charm, for success, — if you do, I can but pre- 

 dict failure. It is true that a few believers in "luck" will 

 occasionally prosper, but it must be the result of accident, 

 for where the true principles of management arc not ob- 

 served, how can it be otherwise ? It is a saying with 

 some that " one man can have luck but few years at once," 

 and others, none at all, although he tries the whole routine 

 of charms. Thirty years ago, when my respected neigh- 

 bor predicted a "turn in my luck, because it was always 

 so," I could not understand the force of the reasoning, 

 unless it belonged to the nature of bees to deteriorate, 

 and consequently run out. I at once determined to as- 

 certain the truth for myself. 



I could understand how a farmer would often fail in 

 raising his crops, if he depended on chance or luck, in- 

 stead of upon the fixed piinciples of nature. It seemed 

 to me quite possible -that the same reasoning would apply 

 to the culture of bees. I observed that in good seasons 

 the majority of bee-keepers were "lucky," and in poor 

 seasons, the reverse ; and when two or three of the latter 

 occurred in succession, they always "lost their luck." 

 It was evident then, that if my bees could by any means 

 survive the poor seasons, they would do well enough in 

 good ones. The result has given me but little reason to 

 complain. 



My advice therefore, is, that reliance be placed on 



