GLEAM. 23 



simply absurd. But when I came to compare them 

 with the proceeds of our ten swarms in box-hives 

 for that very year the absurdity all vanished. Our 

 account with our ten swarms would have stood as 

 follows : 



Cr. 

 By 708 lbs. box honey, at 20 cts. per lb. 

 " 7 swarms, at $5 00 each, .... 







$141 



60 







35 



00 





$176 



60 



1 3 



50 







16 



20 











19 



70 



Dr. 



To 7 new hives, for increase, at 50 cts. each, 

 " 162 5-lb. honey-boxes, at 10 cts. each, 



Net gain in one year on 10 swarms, . $156 90 



Common black bees in box-hives were worth at 

 that time in our neighborhood $5.00 per hive. Our 

 ten swarms in the spring, then, represented an invest- 

 ment of $50. On this investment we had cleared 

 that year $156 90 — or more than 313 per cent. If, 

 with black bees in box-hives, we had been so suc- 

 cessful, might it not be reasonable that with Italian 

 bees in movable-comb hives, and the skillful use of 

 all modern appliances, a gain of 500 per cent, per 

 annum, could be made, as Prof. Cook had said ? His 

 statement no longer seemed absurd. His little book 

 on bees had set me thinking — thinking so seriously 

 that I went about in a dreamy state for a week. 

 Was there not in these bees a chance for me to 



