BEESj BEE-lIIVESj AND BEE CULTDKE. 11 



quotes from the German the following epitaph which, he says, 

 "might be properly placed over every pit of brimstoned bees :" — 



^txt Eeata, 



CUT OFF FEOM USEFUL LABOUR, 

 A COLONY or 



INDUSTRIOUS BEES, 



BASELY MUEDEHED 

 BY ITS 



UNGRATEFUL AND IGNORANT 

 OWNER. 



And Thomson, the poet of " The Seasons," has recorded an 

 eloquent poetic protest against the barbarous practice, for which, 

 however, in his day there was no alternative : — 



All, see, where robbed and murdered in that jiit, 

 Lies the still heaving hive ! at evening snatched, 

 Beneath the cloud of guilt-concealing night. 

 And fix'd o'er sulphur ! while, not dreaming ill, 

 The happy people, in their waxen cells. 

 Sat tending public cares. 

 Sudden, the dark, oppressive steam ascends, 

 And, used to milder scents, the tender race. 

 By thousands, tumble from their honied dome 

 Into a gulf of blue sulphureous flame ! 



It will be our pleasing task in subsequent chapters to show " a 

 more excellent way." 



SWAEMING. 



The spring is the best period at which to open an apiary, and 

 swarming-time is a good starting point, for the new bee-keeper. The 

 period known as the swarming season is during the months of May 

 and June. "With a very forward stock, and in exceedingly fine 

 weather, bees do occasionally swarm in April. The earlier the 

 swarm the greater is its value. If bees swarm in July, they seldom 

 gather sufficient to sustain themselves through the winter ; though, 

 by careful feeding, they may easily be kept alive, if hived early in 

 the month. 



The cause of a swarm leaving the stock-hive is, that the popu- 

 lation has grown too large for it. Swarming is a provision of 

 nature for remedying the inconvenience of overcrowding, and is the 

 method whereby the bees seek for space in which to increase their 



