niVE-BEES, 101 



mentionii a fact conclusive on this subject. '^ I had," 

 says he, " a late swarm last summer, which, in con-* 

 sequence of the drought, filled only one box with 

 honey. As it was late in the season, and the food 

 collected would not enable the bees to subsist for 

 the winter, I shut up the hive, and gave them half 

 a pint of honey every day. They immediately set to 

 work, filled the empty cells, and then constructed 

 new cells enough to fill another box, in which they 

 deposited the remainder of the honey." 



A more interesting proof is thus related by the 

 same gentleman. " In the summer of 1824, I traced 

 some wild bees, which had been feeding on the 

 flowers in my meadow, to their home in the woods, 

 and which I found in the body of an oak tree, exactly 

 fifty feet above the ground. Having caused the 

 entrance to the hive to be closed by an expert climber, 

 the limbs were separated in detail, until the trunk 

 alone was left standing. To the upper extremity of 

 this, a tackle-fall was attached, so as to connect it 

 \^iLh an adjacent tree, and, a saw being applied be- 

 low, the naked trunk was cut through. When the 

 immense weight was lowered nearly to the earth, the 

 ix)pes broke, and the mass fell with a violent crash. 

 The part of the tree which contained the hive, sepa- 

 rated by the saw, was conveyed to my garden, and 

 placed in a vertical position. On being released, the 

 bees issued out by thousands, and though alarmed, 

 soon became reconciled to the change of situation. 

 By removing a part of the top of the block, the inte- 

 rior of the hive was exposed to view, and the comb 

 itself, nearly six feet in height, was observed to have 

 fallen down two feet below the roof of the cavity. 

 To repair the damage was the first object of the 

 labourers; in doing which, a large part of their store 

 of honey was expended, because it was at too late a 

 season to obtain materials from abroad. In the fol- 



VOL. IV, 9* 



