The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-06-06
The Keeping Of Bees as the
Source Of Wealth.

foacent'on IN L~ec6pofoa. IH..
Nay :. ~ II. z. Her>yoqer. -
Je>Sunlne c0uatg.
The object Of every Kcntuchian
is, / believe, to make money In
the selection anj pursuit oi bus,
ness, his aim. nm tAe end. b. the ar-
qulremcnt 81 property IN one shape
or another. H. Is cmincnfly Ell
dowed with the organ If acqui,i-
tlveneSs, and ne has it honestly.
for God has given it u him. and
no Il can doubt the wisdom Of it,.
In the present state of society.
where every one is living up Ia the
full extent Of his ability, it is wise
to make money from all the honest
sources within GU reach. That
We learn TO make money from the
management Of bees is our business
here to-day. If We can by irtclli-
gence III the application OF science
to their habits make them a source
Of wealth to our people and the ma
ton, We will have done much for
the good Of society.
We hear Of bees from the earliest
ages down to the present time.
They are spoken of in the Bible
many centuries before the CHRIS
tlan era, and III the writings Of Viz
gil and ColumelIa; but they seem
TO have had Lo management except
that which was dark, mysterious
and uncertain. No good results
L reported Of them. The correct
understanding Of their natural his
tory and the proper application of
art and science to their habits was
left for Huber and Dzierzon, and
Langstroth and Quinbv.
The laws which govern bee IN
stInct were unknown to them. TIE
science and art, SO applicable and
essential III the successful manage
ment of them in the present day,
were unthought Of in the past, us
they / unthoughJ OF now by more
than nine-tenths Of our people.
The light had not yet come ou5 Of
them. Fifty years ago the light
had not come out Of steam and
electricity. Now they are the mo-
tive powers of the world, bearing
kilograms to every port. God I'M
wells to us what he knows is best.
OF course, we do not claim for
bee keeping II place annbng these
wonderful agencies, but W. do
claim for it a place among the IN
dustries of our people, capable, by
intelligent management, OF giving
as good results for the outlay as
are obtained by any work done mp
on the farm.
1t appropriately belongs to farm
ing. Farmers have the soil and
the flowers, and where the forage
is wanting they can supply it by
sowing and planting. And it is to
them | especially direct my
thoughts to-day. The flowers up
on your fields and meadows and
waysides, contain in their tiny cells
a treasure-a delicious sweet, Sc
creted day by day, and unless some
arrangements Ire made to gathei
it in, will be daily wasted upon the
air. It is this saving. this gather
ing from every available source
that brings thrift and success to
the farmer. Shall we let this treas
ure of the flowers be wasted IN our
fields or shall we gather it IN, is a
question worth consideration.
He is IA poor economist indeed.
who suffers available treasure to 90
10 waste around him. What would
YOU think of the farmer who would
not gather the golden grain when
it was ripe and waving IN the fields:
or what would You think OF the
man who would harvest the
new crop and let the old
crop 90 to waste: The man OF
thrift gathers and saves from every
possible source. He lets nothing
90 to waste. He gathers III his
corn and his wheat, his rye and ms
barley, and he gathers also the
honey from the flowers OF his fields.
1t Is his. He pays nothing tor
it. Genial nature plants the flow
ers and fills their cups with honey,
and he get" it simply for the tax.
ing it, and thus Y what would
otherwise be lost.
Now, are we at liberty to .eglect
the development of an industry that
can by proper management be made
to bear fruit Il hundred fold, and
thus add to the happiness OF our
people and the wealth of our State:
We are told by Prof. Shaler and
others that We have untold mineral
wealth in our mountains. But the
great question of the day Is, how to
reach it. Legislatures have met
a,,l al pnnI. ,Enr1-1nnS have