A P 
not be conveniently cut, the bees may be fwept off into a 
hive. The hive (hould not be immediately fet on the 
ftool where it is to remain; but fliould be kept near the 
place at which the bees fettled, till the evening, left forae 
ftragglers fliould be loft. It fliould be (haded either with 
boughs or with a cloth, that the too. great heat of the fun 
may not annoy the; bees. 
Of Feeding Bees in Winter. Providence has or¬ 
dained, that infeCls which feed on leaves, flowers, and 
green fucculent plants, are in an infenfible or torpid date 
from the time that the winter’s cold has deprived them of 
the means of fubfiftence. Thus the bees during the win¬ 
ter are in fo lethargic a (late, that little food fupports 
them : but, as the weather is very changeable, and every 
warm or funny day revives them, and prompts them to 
J eturn to exercil'e, food becomes neceffary on thefe occa- 
ions. Many hives of bees which are thought to die of 
cold in the winter, in truth die of famine; when a rainy 
fummer has hindered the bees from laying in a fufficient 
itore of provifions. The hives fliould therefore be care¬ 
fully examined in the autumn, and fliould then weigh at 
leaft eighteen pounds. There is (bill, however, a want of 
experiments to afeertain both the time and the manner in 
which bees fliould be fed. 
The following directions given in the Maifon Rujlique 
feem to be very judicious. Replenifli the weak hives in 
September with fuch a portion of combs full of honey ta¬ 
ken from other hives as (hall be judged to be a fufficient 
iupply for them. In order to do this, turn up the weak 
hive, after taking the precaution of defending yourfelf 
with the fmoke of rags, cut out the empty combs, and 
put the full ones in their place; where fecure them with 
pieces of wood run acrofs, in fuch manner that they may 
not fall down when the hive is returned to its place. The 
bees will Coon fix them more effectually. If this method 
be thought too troablefome, fet under the hive a plate of 
liquid honey, unmixed with water, with draws laid acrofs 
it,* and over thefe a paper pierced full of holes, through 
which the bees will fuck the honey without daubing them- 
i'elves. This fliould be done in cloudy or rainy weather, 
when the bees ftir leaft abroad; and the hive fliould be 
covered, to protect the bees from robbers, who might be 
allured to it by the fmell of the honey. Another circum- 
ftance which may render it very neceffary to feed the bees 
is, when feveral days of bad weather enfue immediately 
after they liave fwarmed ; for then, being deftitute of every 
fupply beyond what they carried with them, they may be 
in great danger of ftarving. In this cafe, honey fliould be 
•riven them in proportion to the duration of the bad weather. 
° Of Taking the Honey and Wax. In this country it 
is ufual, in feizing the (lores of thefe little animals, to rob 
them alfo of their lives. The common method is, That 
when thofe which are doomed for (laughter have been 
marked out (which is generally done in September), a hole 
is dug near the hive, and a (tick, at the end of which is a 
rag that has been dipped in melted brimftone, being (luck 
in that hole, the rag is fet on lire, the hive is immediately 
fet over it, and the earth is inftantly thrown up all around, 
fo that none of the fmoke can efcape. In a quarter of an 
hour, all the bees are feemingly dead; and they will foon 
after be irrecoverably fo, by being buried in the earth that 
is returned back into the hole. By this lad means it is 
that they are abfolutely killed; for it has been found by 
experiment, that all the bees which have been a fie fled only 
by the fume of the brimftone, recover again, excepting 
fuch as have been finged or hurt by the flame. Hence it 
is evident, that fume of brimftone might be ufed for in¬ 
toxicating the bees, with feme few precautions. The 
heavieft and the lighted hives are alike treated in this man¬ 
ner: the former, becaufe they yield the mod profit, with 
an immediate return ; and the latter, becaufe they would 
not be able to furvive the winter. Thofe hives which 
weigh from fifteen to twenty pounds are thought to be the 
fitted for keeping. More humane and judicious methods 
were practifed by the ancients; and fuccefsful attempts 
Yol. I. No. 50. 
i b. 79? 
have lately been made in our own country, to attain the 
definable end of getting the honey and wax without de¬ 
ft roying the bees. 
Mr. Thorley, in his Inquiry into the Nature, Order, and 
Government, of Bees, has. this objerit principally in view ; 
and he thinks colonies in boxes preferable to hives, foe 
the following reasons.: ift, The more certainprefervation 
of very many thoufands of thefe ufefill creatures. 2dly, 
Their greater ftrength, which conlifts in numbers, and 
confequently their greater fafety from robbers. 3d 1 y, Their 
greater wealth, arifing from the united labours of their 
greater number. He tells us, that he has in Come dim¬ 
mers taken two boxes filled with honey from one colony ; 
and yet fufficient (lore has been left for their maintenance 
during the winter; each box weighing forty pounds. Add 
to. thefe advantages, the pleafure of viewing them, with 
the greateft fafety, at all fe.afons, even in their bulieft time 
of gathering, and their requiring a much lefs attendance 
in (warming time. The bees thus managed are alfo more 
efferilually fecured front wet and cold, from mice and other 
vermin. For this purpofe boxes are made of deal, which, 
being fpongy, fucks up the breath of the bees fooner than 
a more folid wood would do. Yellow dram-deal tho.- 
roughly feafoned is the bed. An o6lagon, being nearer 
to a fphere, is better than a fquare form; for as the bees, 
in winter, lie in a round body near the centre of the hive, 
a due heat is then conveyed to all the out-parts, and the 
honey is kept from candying. The dimenfions which Mr. 
Thorley recommends for the boxes, are ten inches depth, 
and twelve or fourteen breadth in the infide. There fliould 
be a glafs.-window behind, fixed in a frame, with a thin 
deal cover, two. fmall brafs hinges, and a button to fallen, 
it. This window will be fufficient for infpeCting the pro- 
grefs of the bees. 
The Loudon Society of Arts, having, among, their pre¬ 
miums for the year 1790, propofed a reward for the mofL 
fatisfaClory mode of managing and preferving bees, and! 
for collefling honey and wax, the fame was adjudged tgj. 
Mr. Thomas Morris, of Ifleworth, for the following Pa¬ 
per, addreffed to that fociety: 
“ My Lords and Gentlemen ,—Were it the cuflom to orna, 
ment your gardens with that ufeful piece of furniture, an 
apiary, properly (ituated, and carefully managed, the pub¬ 
lic might be furniftied with the valuable article of honey 
without adulteration, and your cellars be furniftied wit& 
excellent mead, little inferior to foreign white wines. Ho¬ 
ping that fuch a fafliion may yet prevail in the future al¬ 
lotment and difpofal of garden and pleafure grounds, per¬ 
mit me to lay before you the conftrudlion of my own api¬ 
ary, and the management of my bees. 
“ My hives are made in the following manner: ninq 
inches deep, and fourteen diameter, containing each about 
five Winchefter gallons, with a flat ton made of well-fea- 
foned deal, an inch thick; four holes at the top, one ex¬ 
actly over the mouth of the hive, the other three in a right 
angle, viz. take an inch centre-bit; make three holes as 
near as poflible, fo that you have but a fmall partition of 
wood between them ; let them be made fmooth and neat; 
then take a circular piece of half-inch board, tack it over 
thofe holes which are made in the hive, and let them be- 
made to fit fo clofe that no moth can get in among the 
young bees : fo that, when a fwarm is put in one of thefe 
Hives in May, or the beginning of June, and begins to. 
fill the hive with combs, brood, &c. which you may eafily 
perceive by means of fmall pieces of glafs, three inches 
fquare, put in the back of the hive, to obferve their ope¬ 
rations, and when the bees have filled their hive, and ap¬ 
pear very bufy at the mouth, open gently the hole on the 
top next the mouth, or rather right over the lijouth, and 
place a glafs or fmall hive over the hole, with proper (licks 
in the glafs for the bees to hang their work upon ; other- 
wife they would be a long time filling their glafs, which, 
if they kindly take to, they will fill in twelve or fourteen 
days. But if your (lock increafes, and, perhaps, lies out 
at the moutly of the hive, you mu ft open a fecond hole at 
9 R tftq 
