RECEIPT BOOK. 196 



To manage bees generally. 



l"he tffest situation for bees is to the north, with 

 a range of hills wooded on the summit, and tow- 

 ard the base, enriched with heather, skirted to the 

 east with a stream from the rocks. To confine this 

 rivulet, the bee-master should sow the sandy beach 

 with the seed of furze, and cover it with a light 

 surface of earth. The furze would soon vegetate; 

 and blooming, in the course of three years, over- 

 pay his labour, by providing the bees with pasture 

 on soil otherwise barren, and the margin of the 

 brook would gradually rise to restrain its encroach- 

 ment on fertile lands. Suppose a white clover 

 field to the south of the hills, and south from the 

 field a large garden, where hardy winter greens 

 have been allowed to flower, as early food for the 

 bees. White mustard should also be sown v >ry 

 earl^ in patches near the hive; but not nearer than 

 one ard. A few dwarf flowers may come within 

 two feet, but tall grown ones would assist insects 

 to get up. To the west, it would be desirable to 

 have a shrubbery, a wood, a broomy conunon, or 

 heather moor. 



The stations for the hives must be six yards as- 

 under, and never nearer than three yards. The 

 board on which they are placed ought to be of one 

 piece; or if joined, the under side of the joining 

 should be lined with a thinner board fixed closely 

 with wooden pins. The edges of this rounded 

 standard should project four inches all round from 

 the hive. Place it on three wooden pillars sixteen 

 inches long, ten inches above the ground, but six 

 inches of its length should be firmly thrust into the 

 earth, in all its l«Dgth to be sixteen inches. The 



