THE HONEY HARVEST. 55 



betwixt stranger and comrade. Of course you have previously- 

 taken the precaution of removing the queen of the swarm to be 

 united to the stock hive. Some recommend permitting the rival 

 queens to " fight it out." This is too apt to occasion a general 

 affray, which can readily be avoided by the plan I mention. The 

 whole procedure will not occupy above half an hour, if indeed so 

 much. You need be under no apprehension of being stung. 

 The bees are too sleepy, too lethargic, too much fatigued after 

 their day's toil to care for you. In order to inspire you with 

 confidence, let me call to your recollection the lethargic condition 

 of common house-flies on a ceiling, in a summer or autumn even- 

 ing. The bees are similarly disposed ; and unless you clumsily 

 crush some of them in your hand, they will not take the trouble 

 of hurting you. If you be so very clumsy as to do so, you have 

 only yourself to blame. 



This is your first harvest : you may, by adopting the following 

 approved system of management, obtain even a second, ere plac- 

 ing your bees in their winter quarters. This latter operation is 

 termed " shifting.'' 



Many writers on bee management have been in favor of shift- 

 ing the hives at certain periods of the year, in order to secure a 

 succession of food, according as it fails in one place, or proves 

 more abundant in another. One of the earliest advocates of this 

 system was Columella. He founds his advice on the observation 

 that scarcely any one district can afford an equally adequate sup- 

 ply of pasture both in spring and autumn. Celsus and Pliny 

 hold the same opinion. Later writers have also recommended 

 this removal, as A. de Montfort, Maillet, in which they are fol- 

 lowed by Wildman and others. This practice is still extensively 

 followed, and there is still living on the Pentland hills near Edin- 

 burgh, a shepherd, who takes charge of upwards of a hundred 

 hives annually for bee-keepers living at a distance. 



From the middle of August to the end of September is the 

 usual time when we perceive the food of bees beginning to fail 

 them. This is the period for removing them to new pasture, 

 which is then in bloom. Before moving, ascertain the condition 

 of your hives ; for these which are well stocked with honey 

 should be deprived by the process already detailed ; and this 

 should be done some days prior to removal, for the combs con- 

 taining the young may have been loosened in the operation, and 



