50 BEE-FJRMTNG. 



in the fields ; it then animates and sustains them. For this 

 reason, when people wish a swarm to settle after it has left 

 the hive, they hasten to cover it, because the shade induces 

 them to rest, while a hot sun annoys them and induces 

 them to take flight again. When we wish to disperse a 

 cluster of bees off the front of a hive, we have only to ex- 

 pose it to the rays of the sun in the heat of the day. The 

 bees then retreat under the hive, on the side, or behind it. 

 They thrive well in thick forests and delight in them, be- 

 cause there they find a uniform temperature and a propitious 

 shade. Often during the dog-days we have seen the honey 

 running out and the combs melting in hives exposed to 

 the heat of the sun. In one hour sometimes a whole 

 apiary will be destroyed. It is also a mistake to suppose 

 hives exposed to the sun produce the earliest and strongest 

 swarms. We have oftener than once experienced quite 

 the reverse. Our earliest swarms have generally come from 

 the hives which are best shaded and only receive the sun 

 late. We have even lost some in hives exposed to the sun 

 because they took flight sooner than we thought of watch- 

 ing them. We need never fear to shade a hive, since 

 Virgil recommends it. If the roof does not project suffi- 

 ciently to protect the hive from the sun in the heat of the 

 day we would advise rough matting or any other temporary 

 covering to be thrown over them. The most favourable 

 aspect is towards the point where the sun is from ten 

 o'clock till mid-day. They should never be turned to the 

 east, and especially not to the north, where the cold and 

 tempestuous winds greatly injure them. 



Hives should not be placed high — on a first or second- 

 floor, as we have sometimes seen them — unless they be 

 completely sheltered, because the wind is less powerful 

 near the ground, and therefore the bees are safer in less 

 elevated situations. 



V\''e had some nine hives for several seasons out at a 



