10 
chapman’s handy-book. 
for January, turn up your liives and sprinkle them with a 
little warm susrar and sweetwort—do it dexterously; wha 
should we think of a doctor who when called to visit a 
patient in a low fever and very weak, orders a gallon ol 
broth to be poured upon him as he lies m bed and then 
leaves him to dry himself as he can, or even opens the 
window on a cold frosty night when he is m this pickle . 
We should say this man died of the doctor,. winch, eai, 
says Mr. Cotton, is a very common complaint. 
A French naturalist says, the bee has been known 
and admired in all ages of the world on account oi its 
industry, policy, and curious economy; it has alike ui- 
nished a study for the naturalist and a theme lor the poet, 
and from its lowly dwelling philosophy has received the 
most exalted lessons of prudence and wisdom. 
The history of the Honey Bee carries us far back in the 
history of the world : thus in the Bible they are first 
noticed as chasing and destroying the chosen people 3350 
years ago, and soon afterwards we find Samson taking the 
honey comb from the carcase of the dead lion and eating 
it, and hence the first riddle or conundrum on record, 
“ Out of the eater came forth meat and out of the strong 
came forth sweetness.” And then we have poor broken 
hearted king David complaining that his enemies com¬ 
passed him about like bees, thus shewing that he was not 
an enthusiastic bee-master. 
The natural history of the bee is also extremely curious 
and interesting, but in the present work we do not enter 
on that subject as nearly all the English Bee Books 
give that subject great attention. We will confine 
ourselves to 
The Management of the Honey Bee in Hew Zealand. 
One very popular writer says that a hive of bees should 
be considered as a sum of money deposited in a savings’ 
bank that will repay good interest if the original stock is 
preserved. He supposes that a cottager has his original 
hive and a swarm from it in the middle or endj of May, 
(this would correspond to our November in New Zealand) 
let him adopt the following plan—place a straw cap on 
the hive, having previously cut a hole at the top of the 
