^ XII. INCREASE OF BEES. Rj 



Italy took the surplus honey and spared the bees, and 

 now for every intelligent bee-keeper there are ample 

 appliances wherewith to attain the same results. Mr. 

 Langstroth quotes from the German the following epitaph, 

 which, he says, " might be properly placed over every pit 

 of brimstoned bees : " — 



!5ctc JRestiS, 



CUT OFF FROM USEFUL LABOUR, 



A COLONY OF 



INDUSTRIOUS BEES, 



BASELY MURDERED 



BY ITS 



UNORATEFUL AND IGNORANT 

 OWNER. 



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

 an eloquent poetic protest against the barbarous prac- 

 tice, for which, however, in his day there was no alter- 

 native : — 



" Ah ! see, where, robbed and murdered, in that pit 

 Lies the still-heaving hive ! at evening snatched, 

 Beneath the cloud of guilt-concealing night, 

 And fixed o'er sulphur ; while, not dreaming ill, 

 The happy people, in their waxen cells, 

 Sat tending public cares, and planning schemes 

 Of temperance, for winter poor ; rejoiced 

 To mark, full flowing round, their copious stores. 

 Sudden, the dark, oppressive steam ascends ; 

 And, used to milder scents, the tender race 

 By thousands tumble from their honeyed domes. 

 Convolved and agonising in the dust." 



It will be our pleasing task, in subsequent chapters; to 

 show " a more excellent way." 



