XIX 



PRODUCTS OF BEES 



It would astonish most people to realise the full 

 extent of the usefulness of the bee to mankind. 

 Figures seldom convey very much idea of the 

 vastness of things, unless one is accustomed to 

 dwelling with them, but when I say that the value 

 of honey imported into Great Britain alone during 

 one year amounts to about .£50,000, it may afford 

 some food for reflection and calculation. 



But in Britain itself a very large amount of 

 honey is raised annually by bee-keepers keeping 

 from a single hive to two or three hundred. About 

 forty or fifty pounds of honey per annum is prob- 

 ably the average "take" per hive, although in 

 good seasons a well-managed hive should give 

 much better returns than this. Honey does not, 

 of course, hold quite the same place in our diet 

 as formerly. Before the introduction of sugar, 

 it was practically the only substance available for 

 sweetening purposes, and every farmer and almost 

 every cottager kept a few hives. Now it is looked 



upon more as a luxury, and few people realise 



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