CHLOE AMONG THE BEES 43 
murmuring enclosure, and had come again to the 
little door in the wall. Passing through and out 
once more into the world of merely masculine 
endeavour, the bee-mistress gave me a final word. 
“You may think,’’ said she, ‘‘ that what I 
advocate, though successful in our own single 
instance, might prove impracticable on a widely ex- 
tended scale. Well, do you know that last year 
close upon three hundred and fifty tons of honey 
were imported into Great Britain from foreign 
sources,* just because our home apiculturists were 
unable to cope with the national demand? And 
this being so, is it too much to think that, if women 
would only band themselves together and take up 
bee-keeping systematically, as we have done, all or 
most of that honey could be produced—of infinitely 
better quality—here, on our own British soil? ” 
* Before the War, 
