HOW YOUK STOCK IS TO BE OBTAINED. 43 



are in great want of provisions. They are alert on the least dis- 

 turbance, and by the loudness of their humming we judge of 

 their strength. They preserve their hives free from all tilth, and 

 are ready to defend it against every enemy that approaches. 



" The summer is an improper time for buying bees, because 

 the heat of the weather softens the wax, and thereby renders 

 the comb liable to break, if they are not very well secured. The 

 honey, too, being then thinner than at other times, is more apt 

 to run out at the cells, which is attended with a double disad- 

 vantage — viz., the loss of the honey, and the daubing of the 

 bees — whereby many of them may be destroyed. A first and 

 strong swarm may indeed be purchased ; and, if leave can be 

 obtained, permitted to stand in the same garden until the autumn ; 

 but if leave is not obtained, it may be carried away in the night, 

 after it has been hived. 



" I suppose that in the stocks purchased, the bees are in the 

 hives of the old construction. The only directions here necessary 

 are, that the first swarm from these stocks should be put into one 

 of my hives ; and that another of my hives should, in a few 

 days, be put under the old stock, in order to prevent its swarming 

 again." 



Nor can I very well leave Wildman, without saying something 

 of the " Count de la Bourdonnaye," so frequently quoted by him 

 in his "Account of Bees." M. de la Bourdonnaye is justly 

 entitled to our gratitude and remembrance as the original inventor 

 of the caped or capped hives ; a most useful contrivance, and 

 one which I have already described. 



" Count de la Bourdonnaye's hives are made of straw, divided 

 into two parts, which are placed one over the other. Each 

 of these parts is thirteen inches in diameter in the inside, and 

 twelve inches high ; so that when joined, they make a hive 

 twenty-two inches in height. They are nearly flat on the top, 

 and have in the middle of the top a hole an inch and a quarter 

 square. The upper half rests on the lower. They are made of 

 sufficient thickness to be proof against cold, and not to be heated 

 by the rays of the sun. When united, their joining is luted close." 



So then the origin of our modern caps is to be referred to a 

 period of upwards of ninety years ago ! I may, however, ob- 

 serve that proper fitting of the upper portion, or cap, upon the 

 lower portions or true hive will quite do away with the necessity 

 of luting. 



