STORIFYING AND SINGLE-HIVING. 125 



friend MR. WALOND, who finds it afford him a 

 supply of purer honey than nadir-hiving ; for as 

 the queen is generally found more disposed to 

 descend than to ascend, by placing the box over 

 the stock it will seldom be stored with any other 

 combs than those which contain honey. MR. 

 GEORGE HUBBARD, however, of Bury St. Ed- 

 munds, in a paper contained in the Transactions 

 of the Society of Arts, vol. ix. (for which they 

 awarded him ten guineas), says that he has 

 known instances in which the bees have swarmed 

 rather than submit to super-hiving. 



Bees have been known to construct combs under 

 the floors of the hives, when restricted for room 

 within. Here their natural activity surmounted 

 the impediments thrown in their way, by the 

 want of inclosed space. The storifying or colo- 

 nizing plan has been much applauded for its 

 saving the lives of the bees : though this preser- 

 vation be well worthy of attention, yet it is an 

 advantage very inferior to that which is derived 

 from the economical division of labour, the con- 

 sequent increase of wax and honey, and the fa- 

 cility afforded for extracting them. I trust that 

 this remark will not expose me to the imputation 

 of inhumanity, for I am fully sensible of the value 

 of life to all creatures that exist, and have often 

 felt strongly the force of Thomson's pathetic de- 

 scription of the sulphurous death of bees. 



