BEE-FARMING. 



This is a new name ; but any trade which gathers the 

 produce of the soil may be called farming, and the place 

 where it is carried on a farm. The culture of bees, 

 therefore, may well be termed Bee-farming. There are 

 so many books on bees, written for the purpose of palming 

 off some hive upon the public, that bee-keeping has obtained 

 an ill name with many, and has often been given up in 

 despair, being looked upon merely as a hobby suitable 

 only for those who can throw away a few hundred pounds 

 upon it. We hope, however, to dispel these illusions. 

 Our experience is this : Bee-farming, if rightly worked, 

 is really a money-making profession, but to make it pro- 

 fitable we must first throw overboard every hive which 

 is too large to be workable, and then invest a few shillings- 

 upon the Italian honey-extractor. 



No trade can be profitable unless attention and care 

 are expended upon it. In every trade, if instead of 

 throwing all your energy into it you grow careless or idle, 

 and never look after your business, it cannot succeed. 

 Just so with Bee-farming ; look well after your stocks and 

 they will richly reward your efforts. We have no doubt 

 any cottager living in a village, who has fifteen hives, 

 which is but a small number, might derive a far higher 

 income from his bees than from manual labour, if our 



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