Seo. 10.] BEES, AND THE PROFITABLE PRODUCTIOX OF IIOlvTEY. 165 



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made by tlie bees. It is Iiarder and stifler -wlien dry than wax, and entirely 

 unlike it. 



219. Weight of a Swarm.— It is estimated that a full swarm of bees should 

 weigh 11 to 12 lbs. Hence all excess over that is honey and comb, so that 

 the quantity can be ascertained by weighing the hive, if the weight of that 

 is known, as it always should be, and marked upon it when new. 



Hives should always be constructed with some conveniences for weichin"'. 

 such as a staple in the top, if that is a fixed one, or one in each side, and 

 then have a movable bail to hook in, to attach to the hook of the weighing 

 balance. 



220. Bee-Pasdire aud Be C-Feeding.— It has been a question for a long time, 

 whether a country could be overstocked with bees so that their pasturage 

 would be short. In a conversation with Mr. Quinby, one of the greatest 

 apiarists in the country, we learned his opinion was that it was next to 

 imjiossible to overstock any section with bees. We find from the " Bee 

 Journal," published in German}', that the same opinion i)rcvails there. Mi\ 

 Dzierzon, president of a convention of apiarists at Munich, says : 



" I have numerous accounts of apiaries, in close proximity, of from 200 to 

 300 hives each. Ehrenfels had 1,000 in three separate establishments, but 

 BO close that he could visit all in half an hour's ride. In Russia and Hun- 

 gary, apiaries numbering from 2,000 to 5,000 are not unfrequent ; and we 

 know that as many as 1,000 colonies are often congregated together on the 

 heaths of Germany. Hence I think that we need not fear that any district 

 of this country, so distinguished for abundant natural vegetation and divers- 

 ified culture, will very speedily become overstocked, particularly after the 

 importance of having stocks populous early in the spring comes to be under- 

 stood and appreciated. Mr. Kaden, one of the oldest contributors to the 

 ' Bee Joui'nal,' says that a district of country can not be overstocked with 

 bees, and that however numerous the colonies, all can procure sufficient sus- 

 tenance, if the surrounding country contain honey-yielding plants in the 

 usual degree ; where utter barrenness prevails, the case is different, of course, 

 as well as rare. 



" According to statistical tables, there are 600,000 colonies in the province 

 of Lunenburg, or 141 to the square mile. The number of square miles in 

 this country stocked even to this extent are, I suspect, ' few and far be- 

 tween.' 



" A German writer alleges that the bees of Lunenburg pay all their taxes, 

 and leave a surplus besides. Tiie importance attached to bee-culture accounts 

 in pfirt for the fact, that the jjcople of this district (so barren that it has been 

 called the ' Arabia of Germany') are almost witiiout an exception in easy 

 circumstances. 



" In the jirovince of Attica, Greece, containing 15 square miles. 20,<i()0 

 colonies are kept, or one colony to each inhabitant, producing annually 30 

 llis. of honey and two of wax each. East Fricsland (Ilollaiul), containing 

 1,200 square miles, has an average of 2,000 colonies to the s(|uaro mile. lu 



