48 THE HONEY-BEE. 



their food-supplies are very astonishing. They have 

 been proved to fly four or five miles to favourite pas- 

 turage. A gentleman, wishing to test this fact, dusted 

 with fine flour his bees as they emerged from a hive. 

 Then driving to a heath five miles distant, which he 

 knew to be much frequented by the insects, he soon 

 found many of those which he had sprinkled at 

 home. Their instinct, indeed, appears to lead them 

 considerably afield, and hence it is of slight use to 

 plant, as recommended by some writers, particular 

 flowers near an apiary. Moreover, unless such 

 flowers are grown for seed purposes, or in very 

 large quantities, the amount of nutriment they will 

 afford is almost inappreciable. 



Fields where the white or Dutch clover abounds, 

 and heath districts, are, perhaps, the finest sources 

 of honey-supply. Our fruit blossoms of almost all 

 kinds also furnish abundant stores to the busy 

 insects. 



The uses of honey hardly require to be pointed 

 out. Besides being an agreeable addition to the 

 breakfast or tea-table, as a substitute for butter, it is 

 often very serviceable as a laxative, when taken in 

 moderate quantity. It is frequently employed in 

 medical confections, as a vehicle for the administra- 

 tion of certain drugs ; and its generally wholesome 

 properties have been thoroughly ascertained. Its use 

 for the manufacture of metheglin, or mead, is not 

 now extensive, but in earlier periods of British 

 history this beverage was held in high esteem. 



