58 FORESTRY IN POLAND. 



hole left in the middle of one of these for the entrance of 

 the bees. As the bees are often capricious at the begin- 

 ning of their work, frequently commencing it at the front 

 rather than the back, the peasants cover the aperture 

 with a number of these thin boards, instead of one entire 

 board, for fear of disturbing them, should they have begun 

 their work at the front. It may appear extraordinary, 

 but it is nevertheless true, that in some favourable seasons 

 this aperture of five feet in length, and a foot wide, is full 

 before August, and the peasants are obliged to take the 

 produce long before the usual time, with the view of 

 giving room to the bees to continue their work, so favour- 

 able is the harvest some years. 



' The bee-gardens are chosen in the plains where the 

 perennial plants are most abundant, that the bees may 

 have but little way to carry home the produce of their 

 labour ; they are of a circular form, about 150 yards in 

 diameter, enclosed with a fence of reeds or brush-wood, 

 and a thatching over them of about five feet for protec- 

 tion, and to keep out the rain and snow ; this is sup- 

 ported by poles from the inside, and a bank of earth is 

 also thrown up to keep the snow from penetrating there in 

 the winter, In the middle a few fruit trees are planted 

 to break the wind, as also hawthorns, and other under- 

 wood, round the enclosure, with the same view. The 

 hives are planted under cover, in the inside, round the 

 fence, and in the winter they are well secured with straw from 

 the frost. The plants for which the bees have a prefer- 

 ence are the Thymus serpyllum, Hyssopus officinalis, 

 Cerinthe maculata, and the Pollygonum fagopyrnm. 



' The process of brewing mead in Poland is very simple : 

 the proportion is three parts of water to one of honey, 

 and 50 Ib. of mild hops to 160 gallons, which is called a 

 Waar, or a brewing. When the water is boiling, both the 

 honey and hops are thrown into it, and it is kept stirring 

 until it becomes milk warm ; it is then put into a large 

 cask, and allowed to ferment for a few days ; it is then 



