40 A MANUAL OF BEE-KEEPING. 



hurry home in such crowds that the entrance of the hive 

 is too small to admit them. On such an occasion, look 

 to the sky, and you will, probably, discover some of 

 those black clouds that denote impending rain. Whether 

 the Bees see the clouds gathering, as some imagine, or 

 whether they feel some other effects of the change on 

 their bodies, is not yet determined ; but it is asserted 

 that no Bee is ever caught in a sudden shower, unless it 

 be at a very great distance from the hive, or injured by 

 accident. Searching for wild Honey. Bees in England 

 would, I am afraid, be an unprofitable task. In many 

 country districts Bees are known to be located in certain 

 hollow trees or roofs of houses ; but the proprietors, 

 although, perhaps, they would be glad to get rid of the 

 Bees, would not so readily allow their house to be 

 dismantled or their tree to be cut down. In America, 

 however, they are not so particular, and many men make 

 a living " Bee-hunting ; " others who do not follow it as 

 a calling do not fail to take advantage of the lucky find 

 when it occurs. 



The time that Bees will inhabit some stations is 

 wonderful. Thorley tells us that a swarm took posses- 

 sion of a spot under the leads of Ludovicus Vives, in 

 Oxford, where they continued one hundred and ten 

 years, from 1520 to 1630. 



Bee-keeping is more or less carried on in all civilized 

 and many semi-civilized countries ; . from the cold inhos- 

 pitable region of Siberia, to the sultry shores of Africa, 

 we may find Bee-hives often in vast numbers. Spain 

 teems with them ; in the rural districts they are every- 

 where found, as also in Russia where, in the province of 

 Yekarterinoslaw, there are nearly four hives to every 

 human being. 



In former times, Poland was celebrated for its Bee- 



