50 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



think your figures could be approached in this county 

 with hives of any size." 



We happen to think differently of Devonshire, and he- 

 lieve that if large hives were introduced and properly 

 managed in that splendid county, the honey harvests 

 would be enormous. Instead of swarms being rarely 50 

 lb. each, they would often be 100 lb., and sometimes 150 

 lb. each. 



Let us now go to Northumberland, where we are told 

 " that the time of general swarming is the month of 

 June, but some early swarms are obtained about the 18th 

 of May. The general size of the hive here is 15 inches 

 in diameter and 12 inches deep ; and the best hives at 

 the end of an average season contain from 25 lb. to 35 

 lb. of honey." Northumberland is a long way in ad- 

 vance of any other county south of the Tweed that has 

 responded to our questions. 



Ayrshire, Perthshire, Wigtownshire, and Mid-Lothian, 

 are about on a par with Northumberland. No answers to 

 our questions came from Ireland and Wales. 



" Now, come back to the parish of Carluke, and tell us 

 if you think that the great success of the bee-keepers 

 there is owing altogether to the use of large hives.'' No, 

 not altogether. A great measure of their success comes 

 from good management. But good management, without 

 large hives, wUl not end in great results — large hives be- 

 ing the basis or foundation of success, and good manage- 

 ment the superstructure. They go hand iu hand, though 

 they stand in the relation of parent and child ; and when- 

 ever the inteUigent bee-keepers of this country adopt and 

 use large hives, they will be utterly astounded at their 

 former blindness in this matter. 



A queen bee lays about 2000 eggs every day in the 

 height of the season. She lays as many in a small hive 

 as she does in a large one : but in a smaU one there are 



