32 THE BLESSED BEES. 



HIVES. 



DOLLARS. 



30x2! = 75 



30X5 = $ I50 



75x23-= 187 



75X5 = 375 



187x2-^- = 467 



187x5 = 935 



467x2^ = 1 167 



467x5 = 2335 



1167x2^- = 2917 



1167x5 = 5835 



At the end of five years I should have 2917 

 swarms of bees, all paid for, and should have an in- 

 come of $5,835, with stock and income increasing at 

 the ratio of 2 x / 2 . Again I went over everything to 

 be sure that there were no errors in my data or my 

 calculations. I was so absorbed in my bee-keeping 

 studies, that I fear for some days the school was 

 taught somewhat mechanically. Finally I locked up 

 all my bee-keeping literature for a week, and resorted 

 to the binomial formula and the Pickwick Papers 

 to clear up all mental fogs and hallucinations. At 

 the end of the week my data and calculations seemed 

 all right. There certainly was no mistake in the 

 theory. Was it possible to put the theory into suc- 

 cessful practice ? I decided. to try. 



