16 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



Here I would say to all who complain of their hives being robbed, 

 as bee-keepers often do, that it is the owner of the robbers who 

 should complain, as they generally bring more disease in the putrid 

 honey than can be eradicated in many months even by the most 

 skilful. In this case I had to take my four strongest stocks, and 

 literally bury everything but the bees, at a time when they should 

 have been in splendid condition for entering their supers. 



Supers were rapidly filling in September, and one " Stewarton" 

 hive by the end of the month had reached the* enormous weight of 

 165 lbs. The harvest was the finest I have ever seen, and those 

 who kept their bees strong reaped the benefit. My bees have now 

 paid all their outlay and original cost, and all my stocks are (and I 

 trust all in the country are) put into winter quarters with more 

 stores in. the hives than they have had for many winters past. 



Early in October we put on winter blankets (quilts), and closed 

 the entrances to winter size. Up till the middle of the month the 

 weather was so mild that the bees were busy, and on the 14th one 

 would have thought it was June, the air around the apiary being 

 filled with their joyous hum, and the workers being busy carrying 

 in pollen, especially the Ligurians, whose hives were completely 

 filled with brood as if to make up for lost time. The hives were 

 all clean and sweet at present, and I trust I have got rid of foul 

 brood, though it is always difficult to detect the first few hundreds 

 of larvae which die in a crowded hive, so that sometimes three-fourths 

 of the cells may hold putrid larvae before the fact is discovered, as 

 happened with me in August last. 



If all goes well, we should have early swarming in 1881. Let 

 us hope that this is the beginning of a series of fine years, and that 

 bee-farming will be carried on through the length and breadth of 

 the land, so that as our own home honey is really the finest in the 

 market, we may be able to supply the demand and thus defy foreign 

 competition. 



II. — On Mimicry, or Protective Resemblance among Animals. 



By Mr. A. S. Wilson, M.A., B.Sc. 



In this paper Mr. Wilson gave a sketch of the researches of Bates, 

 Wallace, and Wiseman into the phenomena of mimicry and pro- 



