296 METHOD OF ESTABLISHING AN APIARY. 



goodness or badness of the article which he wishes to 

 purchase ; but how few are there, who when they 

 establish an apiary, are able from their own expe- 

 rience, to decide on the badness or excellence of a 

 hive ; and thus, perhaps, at the very outset of their 

 undertaking, a failure ensues, and the pursuit is relin- 

 quished, arising from a groundless idea of the difficul- 

 ties which attend its prosecution. 



" The usual methods of establishing an apiary are, 

 either by the purchase of stocks or of swarms or, 

 in some instances, by the settling of a vagabondizing 

 swarm in your garden, which, by the country house- 

 wives, is always considered as a real God-send; 

 remembering to forget, that they have as much legal 

 right to the swarm, as they have to the cow or pig 

 which may have strayed into their premises. In 

 the purchase of stocks, the following essential points 

 should be attended to, without a knowledge of which, 

 the young apiarian will find himself deceived, at the 

 very moment when his expectations of ultimate suc- 

 cess are raised to the highest pitch. It is with a bee- 

 hive as with a wife, never take one on the recommen- 

 dation of another person, but be your own judge of 

 its merits and defects. If it be your intention to 

 purchase a stock, repair to the garden in which it 

 stands, about the middle of the day, and, placing 

 yourself before it, pay particular attention to the 

 actions of the bees. If you observe them crowding 

 in and out of the hive, and a considerable number 

 of them having little yellow pellets or balls on their 

 hinder legs, a very favourable opinion may be formed 

 of the health and condition of the interior, and 



