THE HONEY-BEE, 
1D1 
mild weatlier. If the nights he cold, there will be 
found in the trough next da)', many dead bees which 
had been tempted to linger there too long. 
As the season advances, the spring flowers appear 
in greater abundance, the gooseberry and currant 
bushes furnish both honey and farina, the seeding 
turnips and early sown mustard present a very consi- 
derable supply ; the furze, also, is in full bloom, and 
the bees become less dependant on artificial feeding. 
But, unless the weather be remarkably mild, and the 
stocks of more than ordinary richness, the adventitious 
supplies ought not to be withdrawn till the beginning 
of May. During March and April, the activity and 
bustle of the hive are greatly augmented, and the in- 
dustrious foragers may be seen in a genial morning 
hurrying with their loads into the hive in crowds, and 
jostling and driving one another about with most un- 
ceremonious haste. In a strong hive, from 50 to 70 
bees, as already stated, may be observed entering in a 
minute ; and, when about to purchase a hive, we 
cannot have recourse to a more decisive testimony of 
its strength than the numbers that enter loaded with 
farina in a given period of time. It is, in fact, during 
this season, about the beginning or middle of April, 
that such purchases can be made with less risk than 
during any other part of the year. The winter is 
past, and the more trying season of early spring, 
especially the lattor half of February and the whole 
of March, during which periods more bees die than 
at any other. Their consumption of honey is then 
so great, from the circumstance of the Queen having 
