5 l8 
THE BEE. 
nies it : The profperity, however, of the new colony re- 
quires that there iliould be but one ; one only is accor- 
dingly preferred. In a fingle day, all the reft are put to 
death ; and it is found that the one which is fpared is the 
heft entitled to reign, becaufe fhe is moft fertile, or near- 
eft her period of giving a new progeny to the fociety. 
The young females in the old hive, if any remain there, 
fhare not a more happy deftiny ; all the fupernutneraries, 
like thofe in the fwarm, are put to death. 
We have already remarked that the bees have many 
enemies ; and in fome feafons, we are told, they are liable 
to fatal difeafes : but of all their dcftroyers man is the 
greateft, from that barbarous avidity which gives rife to 
the praftice of killing every hive that has collefted a fuf- 
ficient quantity of honey *. In the winter feafon, cold 
or hunger are the fcourges which often deftroy fuch as 
our rapacity has fpared. In flickering them from the one 
of thefe evils, we often espofe them to the other. Too 
great a degree of cold makes them perilh f : If placed in 
a fituation too warm, they are awakened from their tor- 
pid ftate, and devour their food with an appetite which 
foon brings on a famine. Experience is the only guide 
that can prevent the bee maftcr from falling into thefe 
extremes. 
In Egypt and in Greece, where the colleftion of honey 
was deemed a trade of importance, the hives were regu- 
larly removed to a different part of the country, -when 
the flowers had faded in another. It was for this pur- 
pofe, 
* Reaumur a chafes the french government to inflict an arbitrary pu- 
nifhment on all who fmoalcdbe cs. Tome V. p. 666. 
f The ancients were of opinion, that bees benumbed with cold might he 
reftored by hot alhes, Vid. Columcla & Varo. 
