that man who finds gratification only in the gross and
sensual. It has been remarked, that "he who cannot find in this and
other branches of natural history a salutary exercise for his mental
faculties, inducing a habit of observation and reflection, a pleasure
so easily obtained, unalloyed by any debasing mixture--tending to
expand and harmonize his mind, and elevate it to conceptions of the
majestic, sublime, serene, and beautiful arrangements instituted by the
God of nature, must possess an organization sadly deficient, or be
surrounded by circumstances indeed lamentable." I would recommend the
study of the honey-bee as one best calculated to awaken the interest of
the indifferent. What can arrest the attention like their
structure--their diligence in collecting stores for the future--their
secretion of wax and moulding it into structures with a mathematical
precision astonishing the profoundest philosophers--their maternal and
fraternal affection in regarding the mother's every want, and assiduous
care in nursing her offspring to maturity--their unaccountable display
of instinct in emergencies or accidents, filling the beholder with
wonder and amazement? The mind thus contemplating such astonishing
operations, cannot well avoid looking beyond these results to their
divine Author. Therefore let every mind that perceives one ray of light
from nature's mysterious transactions, and is capable of receiving the
least enjoyment therefrom, pursue the path still inviting onward in the
pursuit. Every new acquisition will bring an additional satisfaction,
and assist in the next attempt, which will be commenced with a renewed
and constantly increasing zest; and will arise from the contemplation a
wiser, better, and a nobler being, far superior to those who have never
soared beyond the gratifications of the mere animal, grovelling in the
dark. Is there, in the whole circle of nature's exhaustless storehouse,
any one science more inviting than this? What more exalting and
refining, and at the same time making a return in profits as a
pecuniary reward?

What would be the result in the aggregate of all the honey produced in
the flowers of the United States annually? Suppose we estimate the
productions of one acre to be one pound of honey, which is but a small
part of the real product in most places; yet, as a great many acres are
covered with water and forest,[22] this estimate is probably enough for
the average. This State (New Y