CLEANING OF THE PEDESTAL. 169 



fatigued, are impeded by those plants, and regain their 

 habitation with difficulty. If they touch those plants in 

 passing, they often fall to the ground, and become victims 

 to their enemies, or are unfortunately trodden under foot. 

 Those plants serve also the purpose of a ladder, whereby the 

 enemies of the bees can ascend into the hive, and particu- 

 larly the ants, which in some districts are particularly 

 numerous. These little insects are a great detriment to a 

 hive, and they baffle the most vigilant attention of the apiarian 

 to prevent their depredations. We have found that a small 

 leaden reservoir of water placed at the bottom of the pedestal 

 is of great service in preventing the ascent of these insects. 

 A still cheaper preventive is, however, to be found in fastening 

 a piece of sheep skin with the wool on, sprinkled with pitch 

 or tar, round the bottom of the pedestal. The ants and 

 earwigs are not able to overcome this obstacle, and even the 

 mouse itself will feel some reluctance to defile its paws with 

 the adhesive unguent. 



The pedestal on which the hive is placed should be often 

 cleaned, that is, about four times in a year. The first cleaning 

 should take place at the commencement of the spring, for 

 a great deal of trouble will be thereby saved to the bees, 

 who are of that cleanly nature, that they will not endure any 

 obnoxious substances in the hive, and thus a portion of time 

 is sometimes very unprofitably spent by the bees in clearing 

 away extraneous matter, which the apiarian could brush 

 off in a moment. An extraordinary instance of the in- 

 stinct of the bees in the removal of any offensive object from 

 their hive is on record, in the circumstance of the mouse, 

 which had made its way into a hive, and was most likely 

 stung to death by the bees. The removal of the corpse of 

 the animal was a direct impossibility, and therefore rather 

 than endure the effluvium of his putrifying body, they 

 covered it over with a thick coating of wax, and thereby 

 prevented the emission of any unpleasant odour. 



