292 NUMBER OF HIVES INVENTED. 



difference which generally shows itself in the quantity of 

 honey and wax, and the largeness or smallness of the 

 swarms. And it is from these contingencies, that one mode 

 of management which has succeeded well one year, will not 

 succeed the next, although the exterior circumstances may 

 present the same appearance ; and further, it is to these very 

 contingencies and variety of circumstances that we are 

 indebted for the construction of so many hives on different 

 principles, the chief result of which has been, merely to 

 convey to us the information, that bees can inhabit, work, 

 and store up their provisions in vessels of every form, from 

 the excavated trunks in the forests of Poland, to the giant 

 tub of Duhamel ; from the urinal vessel of the bedchamber, 

 to the wig of a brow-beating lawyer. In our description 

 of the various hives, we have briefly detailed their defects 

 and advantages, but, with the knowledge, that we had to 

 contend against antiquated prejudices and superstitious 

 notions ; we have in many instances merely given the prin- 

 ciple of their construction, leaving the individual to ascertain 

 their degree of comparative excellence by the result of his 

 own experience. 



