BEE-PASTURES. 85 



direction of bee-hives. Well, what then ? There can be 

 no better position for bees than the banks of our railways. 

 If fifteen hives were placed on an average per mile, how 

 much income would be derived ? At the rate of only iL 

 per hive annually (about one-half the usual rate) 500 miles 

 would return 7,500/. yearly. If our worthy porters were 

 to receive Christmas presents to the tune of 1 5/. per mile 

 of line, they would doubtless be pleased and full of grati- 

 tude — 'A land flowing with milk and honey in this 

 England of ours.' " 



In Cheshire we have observed good honey yield is 

 obtained from lime and sycamore trees. What more 

 interesting sound than the cheerful hum of the honey bee 

 in the early season, as we stand beneath the shade of a 

 large lime-grove ? 



We must not suppose that bees gather all their rich 

 stores from the garden. If they were to depend upon 

 the supply from cultivated flowers we should have but 

 little honey. The chief sources of honey in this country 

 are the white or Dutch clover and the heather ; the buck- 

 wheat yields a large quantity, but it is not cultivated so- 

 extensively as to make the supply good. The honey 

 gathered from the heather is dark-coloured, but of a rich 

 wild flavour ; this is principally collected in the autumn. 

 Our stocks are now known to have the finest honey in 

 April and May ; this is more pure and better flavoured 

 than any other, and is procured from the clover. Bees 

 kept on open downs, or in the neighbourhood of extensive 

 pasture lands, always pay the best in a pecuniary point of 

 view; they feed principally on the clover. We spoke 

 recently to a poor widow who gains the best part of her 

 living from bee-keeping — nay, it is her great boast that 

 she has never troubled the parish for a penny, but her bees 

 have been a sure source of income. When we have 

 heard nothing jn other quarters but complaints about the 



