INSECTS PKODUCING WAX, BESIN, HONEY, MANNA. 81 



operation is best performed at about four o' clock in 

 the afternoon. When the bees are again placed in 

 the hive, the opening of the latter is nearly closed, 

 so that they may not make their escape when 

 animation returns. The next morning they are 

 permitted to go out, and are as lively as before. 

 But Mr. Nutt's system of hive, where the honey is 

 taken from the top, without suffocating the bees, 

 renders this operation unnecessary. 



The profit derived from the cultivation of bees 

 has been often much exaggerated. Large fortunes 

 are not more easily realized by this undertaking 

 than by other means. Bees require a great deal of 

 attention, and to realize a profit at all the cultivator 

 must, in most cases, submit to a considerable 

 amount of trouble, and often to no little anxiety. 



The sales of swarms, wax, and honey are the 

 three elements or basis upon which bee-culture 

 rests. The best time for purchasing swarms is in 

 the month of October. On honey and wax we 

 shall say a few words presently. 



The production of a hive depends principally 

 upon the mildness of the climate. In the environs 

 of Paris there are bee-hives which realize a pure 

 profit of twelve to twenty-four francs a year. 

 These figures may be taken as a sort of criterion in 

 our climate. Those who occupy themselves with 

 the rearing of bees should possess " Les Observa- 



G 



