. in March, April, and May. 129 
/ 
tneans agreeable to me, and which muft doubt 
lefs have been very difgufting to the bees. I 
have often endeavoured to inveftigate the caufe 
of thefe phenomena, but am as yet unable to 
fatisfy myfelf, unlefs perhaps. it be owing to 
extreme cold. But again{t this fuppofition the 
objection naturally arifes, that fome eggs in the 
fame hive, and in the fame degree of cold, pro- | 
duce bees which arrive at full maturity ; and, 
therefore, in reply, it muft be taken for grant- 
ed, that fome eggs are naturally more able to 
bear cold than others; and, indeed, jit is moft 
commonly in hives that are but thinly inhabit- 
ed, that fuch misfortunes take place. 
To diftinguifh hives in this condition, there- 
fore, the following criterion may ferve. In 
| {pring, when bees, which formerly carried well, 
and ftill are in no want of food, give over car- 
rying, let the hive be directly turned up, and 
infpected between the combs. ‘Then, upon tak- 
img a {mall ftick, and pu tting it down among the 
thickeft of the bees, where the maggots lie feal- 
ed up, and with it rubbing off the tops of two 
or three of the fealed cells, if frefk whitith 
maggots appear, 1t may be concluded, that the 
brood is coming forward: but if the cells ap- 
pear quite empty, or if only blanched maggots 
R _ appear 
