THE PASTURAGE OF BEES. 73 



■by cold nights than they. Three years ago, a stock- 

 hive from which one swarm only was obtained was 

 weighed every morning during the hot weather of July. 

 On the 17th and 18th it gained 12 lb. in weight, 

 next two days only 4 Ih., and on the following day it 

 gained 4 lb. The differences of honey gathered was 

 attributed to the variation of night temperature, for the 

 one day was as hot as the other. 



Heather-blossoms, during the months of August and 

 September, yield a harvest of honey prodigiously and mar- 

 vellously large. This is so well known, that in Scotland, 

 and some parts of the Continent, there may be seen cart- 

 loads of bee-hives going to grouse-land. Bee-keepers find 

 that there is an ample return for the trouble and expense 

 of taking bees to the moors, even though the distance be 

 thirty or forty miles. On no spot of Scotland can it be 

 said that heather is not within easy distance of it, so that 

 all Scottish bee-keepers can avail themselves of the honey 

 that is so abundantly produced by its piaky-purplish 

 blooms. To me it appears wonderful that we have in 

 England heather enough for all the bees in the world. 

 In Yorkshire there are magnificent seas of it. On the 

 hills of Derbyshire, within twenty miles of Manchester, 

 we find miles of heather that cannot well be surpassed for 

 excellence. In the south, we find heather in Devon, 

 Sussex, and Hampshire. I have seen it, too, in "Warwick- 

 shire ; but of the quantity I cannot speak from personal 

 knowledge. In Ireland, Wales, and the most northern 

 counties of England, it is as abounding and "comeatable" 

 as it is ia Scotland. Heather-honey is so different in 

 taste and appearance from other honey, that it is called 

 in Scotland "heather-honey," all the rest being termed 

 "flower-honey." 

 ■ It need not be said that plants grown on warm well- 



