REE. 



279 



for in the course of an hour or two the bees set- 

 about repairing their loss. For this purpose, they 

 choose a larva of their own class, about two or 

 Ihree days old, pull down a few of the adjacent 

 cells, and enlarge the selected one ; and by feeding 

 this larva with food exclusively destined for the 

 nourishment of royal larvae, a queen is in due time 

 produced. The common workers perform the 

 whole labour, both with respect to constructing the 

 comb and feeding the larvae or young, as well as 

 collecting and storing up their precious treasure. 



Those not experienced in the nature of bees, 

 may be greatly deceived in the purchasing of hives 

 tor stock. It can only be by a minute examination 

 of the interior of the hive, that a just estimate of 

 its value may be gained; this, however, is attended 

 with much difficulty, and some danger ; but by the 

 outward appearance and weight of the hive he may 

 perhaps arrive at nearly a correct conjecture. The 

 best season for purchasing is either in February or at 

 the swarming season ; in February it has survived 

 the rigour of winter, and the purchaser has then only 

 to attend to the population of the hive, or its ap- 

 parent age. Let the purchaser observe with at- 

 tention the number of bees which enter the hive 

 loaded with the fruits of their industry ; and if 

 an apparently equal number departs in great bustle 

 and hurry, he may then conjecture the hive to be 

 in good health and well populated; and if a loud 

 humming noise is heard within the hive, it is a cer- 

 tain sign of its strength and prosperity. The 

 weight of a hive in February should never be un- 

 der fifteen pounds, nor in autumn under thirty; 

 and care should be taken that the hive is new, for 

 in old hives a quantity of farina or bee-head ac- 

 cumulates, which adds considerably to its weight ; 

 the purchaser should also reject a hive when he 

 observes its straw decayed and rotten, the ligaments 

 loose, and frequent blotches over it, for it will cost 

 him incessant trouble and vexation to keep it in a 

 sufficient state of preservation, so as to maintain 

 the health of his bees. 



The apiary, or place where the bee-hives are 

 placed, should in very warm situations be made to 

 face the east, and in colder districts the south-east. 

 It sholild be well protected from high winds, which 

 not only prevent the bees from leaving the hive in 

 quest of honey, but they also surprise them in the 

 fields, and often kill them by dashing them against 

 the trees and rocks or into rivers. The hives in an 

 apiary should always be placed in a right line ; but 

 should the number of the hives be great, and the si- 

 tuation not capacious enough to admit of their being 

 placed longitudinally, it is more advisable to place 

 them over one another on shelves than in double 

 rows on the ground. A bee, on leaving the hive, 

 generally forms an angle of about forty-five with 

 the horizon; the elevation of the hive should 

 therefore be about two feet from the ground, in 

 order to protect it from humidity. The greater 

 the elevation of the hive, the longer is the flight 

 of the swarm ; and when they are at a certain 

 point of elevation, the swarms are lost for ever to 

 the proprietor. If the hives are to be placed in a 

 double row, the hinder ones should alternate with, 

 and be placed at such at distance from, the front 

 ones, that when the bees take their flight no ob- 

 struction is offered to their ascent. Huish recom- 

 mends placing every hive upon a single pedestal, 

 ftnd at two or three feet distance from each other. 

 By this means, when any thing happens to one hive, 

 the others are less likely to be disturbed than when 



placed on a shelf in a bee-house ; and the hive may 

 be chained down and locked. It is usual to have 

 three or four legs or supports to the bee-boards ; 

 but those who have tried one will never resort to 

 more, as one is a much better protection from ver- 

 min and insects. The space in front of the apiary 

 should be kept clear of high plants for two or three 

 yards. 



The variety of bees employed is a matter of 

 some consequence. To the common observer all 

 working bees, as to external appearance, are nearly 

 the same; but to those who examine them with 

 attention, the difference in size is very distinguish- 

 able ; and they are, in their vicious and gentle, in- 

 dolent and active natures, essentially different. Of 

 the stock which Howison had in 1810, it required 

 250 to weigh an ounce ; but they were so vicious 

 and lazy that he changed it for a smaller variety, 

 which possessed much better dispositions, and of 

 which it required 296, on an average, to weigh an 

 ounce. Whether size and disposition are invariably 

 connected, is not determined. 



The best material and form for hives is a straw 

 thimble or flower-pot placed in. an inverted posi- 

 tion. Hives made of straw, as now in use, have a 

 great advantage orer those made of wood and 

 other materials, from the effectual defence they 

 afford against the extremes of heat in summer and 

 cold in winter. 



The size of hives should correspond as nearly as 

 possible with that of the swarms. This has not 

 had that attention paid to it which the subject de- 

 mands, as much of the success in the management 

 of the bees depends on that circumstance. From 

 blind instinct bees endeavour to fill with combs 

 whatever hive they are put into, before they begin 

 to gather honey. Owing to this, when the hive is 

 too large for its inhabitants, the time for collecting 

 their winter store is spent in unprofitable labour ; 

 and starvation is the consequence. This evil also 

 extends to occasioning late swarming the next sum- 

 mer ; it being long before the hive becomes so filled 

 with young bees as to produce a necessity for emi- 

 gration, from which cause the season is too far ad- 

 'vanced for the young colonies to procure a winter 

 stock. A full-sized straw hive will hold three 

 pecks ; a small-sized from one and a half to two 

 pecks. 



The Polish hive appears to be the second in 

 merit to that described, and perhaps it may deserve 

 the preference, if the mode of using it were gene- 

 rally known. It is simply the trunk of a tree, of 

 a foot or fourteen inches in diameter, and about nine 

 feet long. It is scooped out (boring in this country 

 would be better) for about six feet from one end, 

 so as to form a hollow cylinder of that length, and 

 of' six or eight inches diameter within. Part of 

 the circumference of this cylinder is cut out during 

 the greater part of its length, about four inches 

 wide, and a slip of wood is made to fit the opening. 

 On the sides of this slip or segment notches are 

 made every two or three inches, of sufficient size 

 to allow a single bee to pass. This slip may be 

 furnished with binges, and with a lock and key ; 

 but in Poland it is merely fastened in by a wedge. 

 All that is wanting to complete the hive is a cover 

 at top to throw off the rain; and then it requires 

 only to be placed upright like a strong post in 

 the garden, so as the bottom of the hollow cylinder 

 may be not nearer the ground than two feet, and 

 the opening slip look to the south. When a swarm 

 is to be put in, the tree, with the door or slip 



