Chap. VI. 



HONEY FROM BEES. 



107 



a moveable top and bottom. When the bees are 

 put into a hive of this description, it is rarely 

 placed on or near the ground, as with us, but is 

 raised eight or ten feet, and generally fixed under 

 the projecting roof of a house or outbuilding. No 

 doubt the Chinese have remarked the partiality 

 which the insects have for places of this kind 

 when they choose quarters for themselves, and 

 have taken a lesson from this circumstance. My 

 landlord, who had a number of hives, having 

 determined one day to take some honey from two 

 of them, a half-witted priest who was famous for 

 his prowess in such matters was sent for to per- 

 form the operation. This man, in addition to his 

 priestly duties, had the charge of the buffaloes 

 which were kept on the farm attached to the 

 temple. He came round in high glee, evidently 

 considering his qualifications of no ordinary kind 

 for the operation he was about to perform. Curious 

 to witness his method of proceeding with the 

 business, I left some work with which I was busy, 

 and followed him and the other priests and ser- 

 vants of the establishment to the place where the 

 hives were fixed. The form of the hives, in this 

 instance, was cylindrical ; each was about three 

 feet in height and rather wider at the bottom than 

 the top. When we reached the spot where the 

 hives were placed, our operator jumped upon a 

 table placed there for the purpose, and gently 

 lifted down one of the hives and placed it on its 

 side on the table. He then took the moveable 



