THE HONEY-BEE. 185 



ature is lowered, room is given to the fast-augmenting 

 population, and the necessity of swarming avoided. 

 And that the Queen may be deterred from depositing 

 her eggs in these end boxes, and thus deteriorating 

 the quality of the honey, a degree of coolness, incom- 

 patible, according to this writer's theory, with the 

 rearing of brood, is produced by ventilation ; and 

 this is effected by two openings, one at the top and 

 the other at the bottom of the boxes, covered with 

 pieces of perforated tin, and fitted with moveable 

 shutters. For the convenience of using a ther- 

 mometer, a perforated tin tube, fixed at the top, 

 reaches down into the centre of each box. Into 

 this tube the instrument is inserted from time to 

 time, in order to ascertain the temperature. The 

 quantity of honey said to be taken from one set of 

 these boxes in one season (1826) is enormous not 

 less, the author avers, than 296'^ Ibs., while 109 Ibs. 

 were left to the bees. Nay, it appears from a regis- 

 ter given in the work, that in the season above men- 

 tioned, one of the boxes, weighing 52 Ibs., was filled 

 in four days ! If there is no mistake here, we can 

 only conclude that the author's residence must in- 

 deed be in a land flowing with honey. 



On the management of Bees in Spring. About 

 the first or second week of February, unless when 

 the season is stormy, the bees will be observed ven- 

 turing cautiously to the mouth of the hive ; and if 

 the sun shines out about mid-day, the little eager 

 foragers will be seen spreading their wings joyfully. 



