198 
THE farmer’s hAnUAE. 
been generally estimated at one year, or two at fur- 
therest. Mr. Reaumur was of this opinion, although 
the experiments which he made were not decisive^ 
Mr. Reaumur marked 500 Bees in the month of April, 
and in Nov ember following, not one was to be seen. 
The Germans estimated the life of the Bee at one 
year. Mr. Huish is of opinion that the Bee may 
live 3, 4, or even more years, because he once mark- 
ed one of his queen Bees, by clipping her wings, and 
found that she lived 4 years ; when the hive was for- 
saken by the whole swarm, and he had no knowledge 
of her afterwards ; and he thus concludes, “ If the 
queens, who lay a great number of eggs, live 3 or 4 
years, the Bees, by a natural conclusion, ought to live 
as long.” The barbarous method of destroying the 
Bees by sufi'oeation, to rob them of their honey, ren- 
ders it difficult to ascertain with precision, the natu- 
ral life of the Bee ; added to this, the enemies of Bees, 
together with the perishable structure of their straw 
hives, make general changes, once in 3, 4 or 5 years. 
In the Archipelago, where hives are made of baked 
earth, they have sometimes lasted from 20 to 50 
years ; peopled, like a city, with a succession of po- 
pulation. Old combs become destructive to the 
Bees, and generally destroy the swarms, if they are 
not removed ; but, upon the plan of my new hive, the 
combs may all be changed every year or two, and 
thus the hive he preserved free from this evil of old 
co.Tobs ; and thus the depredations of one of the worst 
enemies of the Bees, (the moth,) may be prevented. 
The-duration of the straw hive may be prolonged by 
a good coat of paint, to shield it from the weather. 
CHAP. XIX. 
On the Deprivation of the Hives, i^c. 
One of the most important questions which can 
be agitated relative to the management of Bees is. 
