§ XI.] BEE-KEEPIXG IN LONDON. 327 



from flowers, and during the two summers that the 

 hive has been so located, have yielded nice glasses of 

 honeycomb as well as afforded a considerable amount of 

 pleasure to the owner and his friends, with every pros- 

 pect of going on flourishing. 



It is difficult to assign an exact limit to the distance 

 that bees will go in search of honey-yielding blossoms. 

 It has been proved by various experiments that they will 

 fly, say, five or six miles, if the supplies are scanty within 

 a shorter radius ; but bees well understand that first of 

 all economies, the saving of time, and if they can find 

 forage near at hand they prefer it. Hence, other things 

 being equal, the quantity of honey stored will be in pro- 

 portion to the contiguity of good pasturage. In this way 

 it is that the systematic removal of hives, as practised in 

 many districts, has such a notable effect on the honey 

 harvest. 



A novel sight for Londoners to witness occurred in 

 June 1865. A swarm, having been ordered to be sent 

 into the country the following morning, was temporarily 

 placed on the leads at the back of our house, 149, Regent 

 Street. The sun shining hot on the hive, or some other 

 cause, induced the inmates to decamp. After a time a 

 passer-by called in to inform us that some bees had ar- 

 rested the progress of a cab. We at once conjectured 

 that they were our missing swarm, the absence of which 

 had previously puzzled us not a little ; so we sent our 

 man with a straw hive to bring the truants back, which 



