THE HONEY-BEE. 221 



hive or skep, bees, brood, &c., ought without hesita- 

 tion to be rejected. A less quantity by two or three Ibs. 

 may bring them through the winter, but this will de* 

 pend much on the nature of the season ; whereas, 

 with the quantity above stated, there is no doubt at 

 all of their preservation as far as food is concerned, 

 whatever may be the temperature. During frost, 

 the bees consume very little indeed ; and if the cold 

 increase in severity, still less, if any. But as we 

 cannot anticipate what the temperature of the ensuing 

 winter may turn out, our wisdom is to take care 

 before hand that there be no deficiency in their stores ; 

 it cannot be supplied when the cold has actually set 

 in. A common straw-hive weighs when empty from 

 five to six Ibs. an ordinary swarm about four 

 Ibs., the wax of a full hive of the current year 

 nearly two Ibs., of the preceding year, at least three 

 Ibs., and the farina in the cells not less than one lb., 

 making in all about fifteen Ibs. A stock, therefore, to 

 be secure, ought to be double that weight in the gross, 

 that is, should contain not less than fifteen Ibs. honey. 

 Having selected the stocks, the Cultivator who 

 does not practise the mode of partial deprivation, 

 alluded to in last chapter, will now reap his general 

 harvest. There are three modes of taking the honey, 

 each of which has its advocates ; namely Partial De- 

 privation, applicable to storied and leaf hives ; Suffo- 

 cation, and Driving, that is forcing the bees to quit 

 their magazines, and uniting the expelled inhabitants 

 to the stock-hives. Partial Deprivation consists in 

 appropriating early in the season a portion of the 



