162 PROPER ASPECT OF THE APIARY. 



over a pigstye. We expostulated with him on the badness 

 of the situation, and remarked to him the particular dislike 

 which bees entertain to an offensive smell. The answer, 

 which we received was, that his bees had been in that situa- 

 tion for about four years ; that they were now accustomed 

 to it, and were he to remove them, they would regret the 

 change. We made use of every argument which our ex- 

 perience in bees could suggest ; we tried him on the principle 

 of personal interest ; but all was in vain. The bees, he knew 

 were attached to the north and the pigstye, and therefore 

 they were not to be removed. 



There cannot be a doubt that the aspect of the apiary 

 should vary with the climate of. the country; but in this 

 climate, it should be in the proportion of two points to the 

 eastward and one to the southward. The variable tempera- 

 ture of our spring being such, that there are some days in 

 which the honey harvest is wholly obstructed, it is good 

 practice therefore to place the hives in that position, which 

 will enable the bees to go early into the fields, on those days 

 when the flowers abound with honey, because at that time 

 they will be able to make a more abundant harvest, than 

 when the heat of the day has absorbed the mellifluous 

 juices from those flowers, on which a multitude of other 

 insects, particularly the bumble bee, have alighted since the 

 morning. 



In whatever position the hives are placed, they should be 

 protected from the winds. In this country, therefore, a 

 protection from the south west is advisable. The high winds 

 not only prevent the bees from leaving the hive in quest 

 of honey, but they also surprise them when employed in 

 their labours, and often kill them by dashing them against 

 the trees and rocks, or into the rivers. The following 

 anecdote is curious and amusing : it is related by the 

 Abbe della Rocca, whose veracity is in general unimpeach- 

 able, but whether it be so in the present case must depend 



