t88 BEE-FARMING. 



and bee-keeping amongst our cottagers is, that this golden 

 rule seems to be completely overlooked. Profitable bee- 

 keeping is a subject much talked about as well as written 

 upon, but somehow or other — perhaps from the fact that 

 people have been so misled by popular publications — the 

 idea has now taken hold of the bee-keepers of this country 

 that there is no such thing as profitable bee-keeping. This 

 is erroneous, and the sooner it is set right the better for 

 everybody. Bee-keeping is without doubt very profitable 

 if you follow the rule — Keep your stocks strong. During 

 the past year we were induced, by advertisements seen in 

 one of our monthly periodicals, to purchase two small 

 pamphlets upon apiculture: one was entitled Keep Bees, 

 Keep Bees, the French bishop's advice to his poor clergy; 

 The A. B.C. Guide, or Cottager's Manual, showing how by 

 proper management ten or twelve stock-hives will return 

 the owner an annual profit of 50/. This consisted prin- 

 cipally of extracts from other publications. I should, 

 however, like to know whether any one has made 50/. 

 in any one year from the old sulphuring system. The 

 other pamphlet was entitled 70/. a Year; or How I make 

 it by my Bees. This book informed the reader how to 

 work his apiary; it was upon the nadir system, or we 

 must purchase a lot of American cheese-boxes, and, when 

 the hives show symptoms of swarming, place the cheese- 

 boxes beneath them, feed liberally with sugar, and at the 

 end of the season we should have a golden honey-harvest. 

 I don't think our aristocracy, who like to see a little pure 

 honey in the comb on their breakfast-table, will thank us 

 for syrup cased up in wax. However, I merely mention 

 these books, which have no doubt misled many persons, to 

 warn my readers against following such popular guides: 

 they will only end in disappointment. 



I trust my readers will pardon this digression. Now 

 to my Jubject — Keep your stocks strong. First, I give a 



