APIS MELLIFICA. 



and return without annoyance. Bees returning heavily laden 

 and wearied are unable to bear up against any object, and 

 should they hit any thing, they fall. Let their passage to 

 and from their hives be clear, but trees and bushes in the 

 vicinity of their residence are advisable, as they present con- 

 venient spots for swarms to settle, which might otherwise go 

 beyond sight or reach. A swarm seldom goes far from home, 

 unless the garden is unprovided with resting-places to attract 

 the queen, who takes refuge in the nearest shelter. Towards 

 the end of October, if not otherwise properly provided, remove 

 the hives into a cool, dry, and shady room, outhouse, or cellar, 

 where they will be protected as well from the winter sun as 

 from the frosts. Warm days in winter often tempt bees to 

 quit their cells, and the chilling air numbs and destroys them. 

 Let them remain thus until about the end of March. In the 

 spring bees are very subject to a disease similar to dysentery. 

 Before the hives are placed in their summer quarters, exam- 

 ine the state of the bees, by turning up the hive and noticing 

 the smell proceeding from it. If the bees are healthy, the 

 odor will be that of heated wax ; but if diseased, it will appear 

 like that of putrefaction. In this case, a small quantity of 

 port wine or brandy mixed with their food will restore them. 

 In the early spring feed them, and do the same when the 

 flowers pass away in autumn, until they are taken into the 

 house, and then disturb them no more. 



As to the best situation for bees during their working sea- 

 son, this must depend upon circumstances of climate and 

 locality. In southerly latitudes and warm exposures, where 

 the climate will admit of the hives remaining upon the stands 

 during winter, it may still be advisable to give some shelter ; 

 and the principal object should be to ward off the sun, the 

 warmth from which invites the bees to fly abroad at an 

 unprofitable season, and makes them sensitive to the sucfden 

 spells of cold experienced throughout the United States. In 

 summer the extreme heat of the sun should certainly be ward- 

 ed off by sheds and suitable shades, although it is improper 

 to oblige the bees to pass through barriers of boughs and 

 bushes. The heat accumulated by objects exposed to the 

 direct rays of the sun often increases to 130 or 140 of Fah- 

 renheit, a temperature which must be injurious, not only to 

 the bees themselves, but to their honey and wax. 



As soon as the bees commence working in the spring, the 



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