250 THE APIARY. 



Fine colonies are sometimes destroyed by the entrance- 

 way becoming stopped by some. impediment or odier, 

 ajid care is requisite to keep a. watch, that so fatal a 

 catastrophe does not happen, because the bees (unless 

 where very ample ventilation is given), excited. by their 

 imprisonment, make mattei-s worse, by raising-' the tem- 

 perature of their hive to such a pitch, that the combs 

 melt from their foundations, and the bees themselves are 

 suffocated, presenting, alcis ! a most woful spectacle to- 

 witness. 



We give this hint because, having ourselves suffered 

 from a similar cause when workmen have been em- 

 ployed in the vicinity of hives, these gentiemen, thought- 

 less of the welfare of the bees, but most careful of their 

 own convenience, placed a piece of wood across, or 

 otherwise stopped, the entrances, to. prevent the bees 

 coming out. In summer wediher&v&CY^^ari^rn&t of 

 confinement in a close hive suffices to complete the work 

 of. desolation ; but should the bee-keeper's attention be 

 drawn to such a state of things, he must immediately 

 raise the hive from its floor-board, and let the poor 

 bees have all the air possible, leaving them thus exposed 

 for the purpose of affording them a chance of revival. 

 When bees are likely to incommode those whose duties 

 temporarily oblige them to be near the entrances, it is 

 better to move the hives a few paces (for less loss will 

 be experienced), or else let the workmen cover their 

 faces with net. The foregoing remarks more parti- 



