HIYE BEES THEIR DISCIPLINE AND HARMONY. 209 



ings, made either of straw or reed. These "hives" 

 being tolerably uniform in their dimensions, we can 

 form a fairly correct calculation as to the number of 

 swarms which a healthy hive will produce in a season. 



In uncivilised countries, where the bees make their 

 habitations in hollow trees, the clefts of rocks, or similar 

 localities, the swarming is very uncertain, depending on 

 the size of their habitations. A curious illustration of 

 this fact occurred in a Wiltshire village where I lived 

 for some years. A swarm of bees had managed to evade 

 their rightful owner, and had made their way into the 

 church roof, between the tiles and the lath-and-plaster 

 ceiling with Avhich most village churches were afflicted 

 at that period. Being undisturbed, the bees increased 

 mightily, but they never sent out a swarm. As long as 

 they restricted themselves to the roof, they were 

 allowed to remain untouched. But after some years, 

 they found their way through the flimsy ceiling, and 

 came into the church in such numbers that the con- 

 gregration hardly dared to enter the building. 



At the beginning of winter, when all the bees were 

 torpid, an entrance was made into their domains, and a 

 wonderful sight it was. The beams and rafters were 

 hidden under the masses of comb. The workmen 

 thought that they had a valuable prize of wax and 

 honey, but they were quite mistaken. In our artificial 

 bee-houses we can induce the insects to store the honey 

 in separate portions of the hive. But in this instance 

 the bees had so much space at command that they mixed 

 r 



