340 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. [Ch. vi. 



mistakes, it is true, have been made by uninitiated bee- 

 keepers in using the more elaborate hives. Being struck 

 -with the remarkable facilities afforded by these superior 

 hives for the extraction of any one comb, and, perhaps, 

 fascinated with their easy sway over so highly organised 

 a community, these new-fangled bee-keepers have ac- 

 quired a habit of perpetually and incautiously meddling 

 with the bees. The inevitable results in such cases are, 

 distress to the bees, impoverishment of the stocks, and 

 loss and vexation to the over-zealous apiarian. All these 

 things may be avoided if it is remembered that there are 

 first steps in bee-keeping, as well as in chemistry, croquet, 

 or cricket. In bee-keeping, as in floriculture, it is a 

 great point to know when to " let well alone." There 

 is no florist, however anxious for a prize, who would be 

 continually pulling up his plants to see how their roots 

 were growing. Doubtless the full control which the 

 bars and frames afford over the inmost recesses of the 

 hives is a great temptation to the bee-keeper ; but if he 

 yields too readily to it he will imperil his chance of 

 profit and deprive himself of that continuous source of 

 interest which a judicious apiarian always enjoys. 



Ignorance Concerning Bees. 



Many persons who are well-informed on most sub- 

 jects are profoundly ignorant on all points of the natural 

 history of bees ; and as with old so vv'ith young. As an 

 amusing illustration of this, we may transcribe an order 



