February Amongst the Hives. 



especially at the begintiingf of the season. All that fine 

 drift is the cell-cappings thrown down during- the winter 

 from time to time as the stores were broached, and every 

 warm day sees them cleaning up the hive in this way. And 

 now watch these others — these that are coming and going 

 straight in and out of the hive. ' ' 



I followed the pointing pipe-stem. The alighting-stage 

 was covered with a throng of bees, each busily intent on 

 some particular task. But every now and then a bee 

 emerged from the hive with a rush, elbowed her way ex- 

 citedly through the crowd, and darted straight off into the 

 sunshine without an instant's pause. In the same way 

 others were returning, and as swiftly disappearing into 

 the hive. 



" Those are the water-carriers," explained the master. 

 " Water is a constant need in bee-life almost the whole 

 year round. It is used to soften the mixture of honey and 

 pollen with which the young grubs and newly-hatched bees 

 are fed; and the old bees require a lot of it to dilute their 

 winter stores. The river is the traditional watering-place 

 for my bees here, and in the summer it serves very well; 

 but in the winter hundreds are lost either through cold 

 or drowning. And so at this time we give them a water- 

 supply close at home. ' ' 



He took up his pitcher, and led the way to the other 

 end of the garden. Here, on a bench, he showed me a 

 long row of glass jars full of water, standing mouth down- 

 ward, each on its separate plate of blue china. The water 

 was oozing out round the edges of the jars, and scores of 

 the bees were drinking at it side by side, like cattle at a 

 trough. 



" We give it them lukewarm," said the old beeman, 

 " and always mix salt with it. If we had sea-water here, 

 nothing would be better; seaside bees often go down to the 

 shore to drink, as you may prove for yourself on any fine 

 day in summer. Why are all the plates blue? Bees are 

 as fanciful in their ways as our own women-folk, and in 

 nothing more than on the question of colour. Just this 

 particular shade of light blue seems to attract them more 

 than any other. Next to that, pure white is a favourite 

 with them; but they have a pronounced dislike to any- 

 thing brilliantly red, as all the old writers about bees 



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