396 OVERSTOCKING. 



total of at least 600,000 colonies, (141 to each square mile,) 

 to secure the result given in the tables. 



The number of square miles stocked even to this extent, 

 in this country, are, I suspect, " few and far between." It 

 is very evident, that this country is far from being over- 

 stocked ; nor is it likely that it ever will be. 



A German writer alleges that " the bees of Lunenburg, 

 pay all the taxes assessed on their proprietors, and leave a 

 surplus besides." The importance attached to bee-culture, 

 accounts in part for the remarkable fact that the people of 

 a district so barren that it has been called " the Arabia 

 of Germany," are almost without exception in easy and 

 comfortable circumstances. Could not still more favorable 

 results be obtained in this country under a rational system 

 of management, availing itself of the aid of science, art 

 and skill .'' 



Bui, I am digressing. My design was to furnish you with 

 an account of bee-culture as it exists in an entire district of 

 country, in the hands of the common peasantry. This I 

 thought would be more satisfactory, and convey a better idea 

 of what may be done on a large scale, than any number of 

 instances which might be selected of splendid success in 

 isolated cases. Very truly yours, 



SAMUEL WAGNER. 



Eev. L. L. Langstroth. 



I am persuaded that even in the poorest parts of New 

 England, there are but few districts w^hich could not be 

 made to yield as large returns as the Province of Lunen- 

 burg, even if the old-fashioned plan of management was 

 adhered to. Indeed, the more experience I have of the 

 ignorance, carelessness, and indifference of the great mass 

 of bee-keepers, in this country, the more firmly am I con- 



