18 
bee-culture with a view to understand it must study and 
think much, and this is conducive to mental improve- 
ment. It is an enterprise in which it is scarcely possi- 
ble to engage without discovering the wisdom of the In- 
finite One, and by those ideas which naturally arise in 
the mind of the attentive observer, the heart, almost as 
a matter of course, is made better. He finds 
“Sermons in ‘Bees,’ and ‘God’ in everything.” 
Bee-culture has claims upon the intelligent and sci- 
tijic. "Professional men should study the instincts and 
wonderful economy of the honey-bee, that they may be 
able to throw light upon their operations and thus aid 
their less intelligent neighbors. It has claims upon the 
sturdy yeoman as a kind of pastime, by means of which 
he can reach ample profits with very little expenditure 
of time and capital. It has claims upon the young as a 
means of extending their knowledge of natural history 
and cultivating within them the love of natural objects. 
It has claims upon the aged , who, as they retire from 
the active and busy scenes of life, need just such objects 
of contemplation to occupy their minds. It has claims 
also upon the attention of females. Mrs. B , of 
New Jersey, by her careful observations and economical 
management, and valuable writings relative to the op- 
eration of the honey-bee, secured to herself a liveli- 
hood, an education to her children, and gained much 
celebrity as a scientific writer. Females are amongour 
very best apiarians. When the principle of domesti- 
cation, which is found to exist in the honey-bee, is 
properly understood, they will be kept on a much larger 
scale than at present. 
/j 
jffi 
r/W 
/C / 
