HIVES. 81 



known was 35 lb. Taking one year witli another, the 

 average produce of a hive is about one gallon of honey. 

 In the parts of Devonshire which I have visited, bees 

 appeared to be treated much as we treat ours, the hives 

 being a little less, if anything." 



In Lincolnshire, " Swarming generally takes place from 

 the 10th to the 20th of June; hives 12 inches diameter 

 and 8 or 9 inches deep ; and the weights of good swarms 

 range from 30 lb. to 45 lb.'' 



" We think," says our Devonshire correspondent, " 25 

 lb. to 30 lb. a good weight for swarms in common hives ; 

 I have known some 50 lb., biit this is rare. I do not 

 think your figures could be approached in this county 

 with hives of any size.'' 



"We happen to think differently of Devonshire, and 

 believe that if large hives were introduced and properly 

 managed in that splendid county, the honey -harvests 

 would be enormous. Instead of swarms being rarely 50 lb. 

 each, they would often be 100 lb., and sometimes 150 lb. 

 each. 



Having lived eight years in the neighbourhood of Lon- 

 don, we may be allowed to state that bee-keeping there, 

 and in Hertfordshire, has not improved one iota since the 

 days of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. So in Oxfordshire and 

 other parts of England. 



Let us now go to Northumberland, where we are told 

 " that the time of general swarming is the month of June, 

 but some early swarms are obtained about the 18th of 

 May. The general size of the hive here is 15 inches 

 in diameter and 12 inches deep ; and the best hives at 

 the end of an average season contain from 25 lb. to 35 

 lb. of honey." Northumberland is a long way in advance 

 of any other county south of the Tweed that has responded 

 to our questions. 



