SIZE OE HIVES. 429 



Each link they trace iu animations round, 

 Dashes their poison'd chalice to the ground. 

 Deem not, vain mortal, that reserved for thee 

 Hangs all the ripening fruit on Reason's tree ; 

 E'en bees, the tiniest tenants of thy care, 

 Claim of that Reason their apportioned share," 



Evans. 



CHAPTER XX. 



On the proper size, shape, and materials for Hives — Observing Hives. 



Notwithstanding all the experiments which have been 

 made, and the volumes written, to determine the best size, 

 shape and materials for bee-hives, the ablest practical Apia- 

 rians, are still at variance on these points. In our country, 

 it is pretty generally agreed, that hives holding less than a 

 bushel, in the main apartment, are not profitable, in the 

 long run, although those having the capacity of a cubic foot, 

 may, for the first season, yield a greater return of surplus 

 honey. As regards the room which a colony will need, for 

 the storage of spare honey, so much depends on seasons and 

 localities, and on whether the bees swarm or not, that no 

 general rule can be given, that will be applicable to all 

 cases. The present season (1856) has been, with me, so 

 extraordinary for its superabundant yield of honey, that I 

 have found non-swarming colonies, able to occupy, to good 

 advantage, two bushels of surplus storage room. As the con- 

 struction of all ray hives, admits of their being enlarged and 

 again contracted, without any destruction or alteration of 



