320 



THIRTEENTH CHAPTER. 



ON THE DECLINE OF HIVES, AND THE MORTALITY OF BEES. 



THE DECLINE AND MORTALITY OF BEES DIFFICULT TO BE ACCOUNTED FOB 

 — THE PREJUDICES AND SUPERSTITION OF THE COTTAGERS OF THIS 

 COUNTRY, A GREAT DRAWBACK TO THE CULTURE OF THE BEE — A BAD 

 SEASON THE CAUSE OF THE MORTALITY OF BEES — THE PROGRESSIVE 

 POPULATION OF A HIVE THE CAUSE OF FAMINE — CONSEQUENT DEATH OF 

 THE BEES — FALSE JUDGMENT OF THE COTTAGER — EXTREME COLD NOT 

 INJURIOUS TO BEES— THE GREATER THE TORPOR OF BEES, THE LESS 

 THEIR CONSUMPTION OF FOOD — INJURIOUS EFFECTS OF KEEPING BEES 

 •WARM IN WINTER — PLASTERING OF HIVES WITH PITCH TO BE RECOM- 

 MENDED — CULTURE OF THE BEE IN RUSSIA — STATEMENT OF GMELIN — 

 THE SEVERITY OF A RUSSIAN WINTER NOT INJURIOUS TO BEES — THE 

 WORKS OF HUBER NOT TO BE CONSULTED ON THE PRACTICAL DEPART- 

 MENT OF THE APIARY — HIS OPINION OF THE EFFECT OF COLD ON BEES 

 — EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY OF HUBER — BEE HIVES TO BE USED FOR 

 WARMING APARTMENTS AND GREENHOUSES — ABSURDITIES INTRODUCED 

 BY HUBER INTO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE BEE — PARADOX AND 

 CONTRADICTIONS IN THE STATEMENT OF KEYS — MORE HIVES DESTROYED 

 BY HEAT THAN COLD — PRECAUTIONS TO BE USED AGAINST THE RAYS 

 OF THE SUN — AVERAGE HEAT OF A HIVE — ADVANTAGES OF A STRAW 

 TOP TO THE HIVES— HIVES TO BE PROTECTED FROM HUMIDITY — CON- 

 FINEMENT IN CELLARS AND DARK PLACES INJURIOUS TO BEES — THE 

 RETENTION OF THE EXCREMENT HIGHLY INJURIOUS TO BEES — SY'STEM 

 OF BURYING HIVES ADOPTED BY SOME APIARIANS — SNOW A GREAT 

 CAUSE OF THE MORTALITY OF BEES — THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN ONE 

 OF THE CHIEF CAUSES OF THE DECLINE OF A HIVE — UNCERTAINTY 

 ATTENDING THE FATE OF THE BEES, WHO DESERT THE HIVE ON THE 

 DEATH OF THE QUEEN — FAMINE, THE CHIEF CAUSE OF THE MORTALITY 

 OF BEES — PREVENTED BY FEEDING — HIVES TO BE WEIGHED IN OCTOBER 

 AND JANUARY. 



Of the various kinds of stock, which constitute the domestic 

 economy of a family, there is perhaps no one, the decline 

 and mortality of which are sometimes so difficult to account 

 for as that of the bee ; and we are constrained to admit, that 

 it carries with it frequently circumstances of so discouraging 

 a nature, as to have a very injurious influence on an exten- 

 sion of the culture of the bee ; to which may be added, the 

 singular prejudices and superstitions, which prevail almost 

 in every country, and in no one more so than in England, 

 in almost every transaction which belongs to the manage- 



