22 
MANAGEMENT OE BEES. 
chaff or husk of rice, or the down of thistles, which latter is 
employed for clay mortar in general, being the first application of 
this substance to the use of man, which I have yet witnessed. The 
dimensions of a hive are, on an average, about fourteen inches in 
diameter, and, when closed at both ends, about twenty or twenty-two 
inches in length. That end of the cylinder nearest the apartment is 
closed by a round platter of red potting ware, a little convex in the 
middle but with the edges made flush with the wall by a luting of 
clay mortar, and the other extremity is shut by a similar dish, hav¬ 
ing a circular hole, about a third of an inch in diameter in the 
centre. 
It does not appear that there is any particular rule for the height 
of these hives from the ground, as they are sometimes confined to 
the walls of the lower basement story, generally appropriated to cat¬ 
tle in the farm houses of Cashmere ; others are inserted into those of 
the first floor, and are frequently in both situations in the same house, 
as well as the walls of its outbuildings. So little difference exists 
betwixt the practice ordinarily pursued in Cashmere and in Europe, 
in respect to hiving new ; swarms when the honey is taken, which de¬ 
serves imitation. Although the season for taking the honey had 
passed when I visited Cashmere, in the beginning of November, the 
cottagers indulged my wish of seeing the process by which this was 
effected, hut with little injury to the bees, and with perfect safety to 
the individuals concerned in its management, and which was as 
follows: 
Having in readines a wisp of dry straw, and a small quantity of 
burning charcoal in an earthen dish, the master of the house, with a 
few strokes of the point of a sickle, disengaged the inner platter of 
the tube, bringing into view the combs suspended from the roof of 
the hive, and almost wholly covered with bees, none of which how¬ 
ever, offered to resent the aggression or to enter the room. Having 
placed the straw upon the charcoal, and holding the dish close to 
the mouth of the hive, he blew the smoke strongly against the combs 
but removed the stand the instant it took fire, to prevent it burning 
the bees, and quenched the flame before he employed it again. Al¬ 
most stifled by the smoke, the bees hurried through the outer door 
with such rapidity that the hive was cleared of its inhabitants within 
a few minutes, when the farmer, introducing the sickle, cut down the 
combs nearest to him, which were secured into a dish previously slid- 
den underneath them, and left undisturbed about one-third of the 
combs which were almost close to the outer door. He then replaced 
the inner platter, and brushing off hastily a few bees that clung to 
