UNITING SWARMS Oil STOCKS. 157 



are my instruments of witchcraft ; but I cannot show 

 you my hours of attention to this subject, my anxiety 

 and care for these useful insects; nor can I commu- 

 nicate to you my experience, acquired during a 

 course of years " 



The neatest and most scientific mode with which 

 I am acquainted of uniting weak families together 

 in harmony was invented by my friend THE REV. 

 RICHARD WALOND, whom I had occasion to men- 

 tion in a former chapter, and whose experience 

 in the management of bees, for nearly half a cen- 

 tury, entitle his opinions concerning them to great 

 respect. His theory and practice upon this sub- 

 ject are as follow. Bees, says he, emit a peculiar 

 odour, and it is by no means improbable that every 

 family of bees emits an odour peculiar to itself : 

 if so, as their vision seems to be imperfect, and 

 their smell acute, it may be by this distinctive 

 and peculiar odour that they are enabled to dis- 

 criminate betwixt the individuals of their own 

 family and those of a stranger hive. Upon this 

 supposition, if the odours of two separate stocks 

 or swarms can be so blended as to make them 

 completely merge into each other, there will then 

 probably be no difficulty in effecting the union of 

 any two families that it may be desirable to unite. 

 To accomplish this end therefore, Mr. Walond 

 had recourse to a very ingenious contrivance : he 



