THE HONEY-BEE. 191 



mild weather. If the nights he cold, there will be 

 found in the trough next day, many dead bees which 

 had been tempted to linger there too long. 



As the season advances, the spring flowers appear 

 in greater abundance, the gooseberry and currant 

 bushes furnish both honey and farina, the seeding 

 turnips and early sown mustard present a very consi- 

 derable supply ; the furze, also, is in full bloom, and 

 the bees become less dependant on artificial feeding. 

 But, unless the weather be remarkably mild, and the 

 stocks of more than ordinary richness, the adventitious 

 supplies ought not to be withdrawn till the beginning 

 of May. During March and April, the activity and 

 bustle of the hive are greatly augmented, and the in- 

 dustrious foragers may be seen in a genial morning 

 hurrying with their loads into the hive in crowds, and 

 jostling and driving one another about with most un- 

 ceremonious haste. In a strong hive, from 50 to 70 

 bees, as already stated, may be observed entering in a 

 minute ; and, when about to purchase a hive, we 

 cannot have recourse to a more decisive testimony of 

 its strength than the numbers that enter loaded with 

 farina in a given period of time. It is, in fact, during 

 this season, about the beginning or middle of April, 

 that such purchases can be made with less risk than 

 during any other part of the year. The winter is 

 past, and the more trying season of early spring, 

 especially the latter half of February and the whole 

 of March, during which periods more bees die than 

 at any other. Their consumption of honey is then 

 so great, from the circumstance of the Queen having 



