s. Those who are anxious to view the various and progressive operations of bees, may gratify them selves, by procuring hives with glass sides. This can hardly be denominated a modern invention, as Pliny records, that a Roman senator had something of the same kind, made of the thinnest and most transparent horn. But those entirely made of glass were not known on the continent before the year 1680, though they were made with panes in Eng land earlier in the same century ; and hives made com pletely of glass are spoken of in 1655. Glass hives ought not to be round, like the common shape, as the bees are concealed among the combs ; they should he square boxes, whose sides consist of four panes. Reaumur used them so thin as to admit of no more than two combs being constructed, that he might the better witness the procedure of the inhabitants. A pane on each side of Huber's hollow frames ex poses both sides of the comb. Such hives must be covered with a wooden box, or an opaque substance, as light disturbs the operations of bees.
Some authors think that there is greater hazard in giving bees too much than too little room to work, when first lodged in a hive, as their animal heat will not be sufficiently confined. However this may be, they ought afterwards to enjoy enough of space ; for we are satisfied that many swarms are injured from wanting it.
c Nothing is of greater importance than the size of the i• swarm lodged in a hive. We repeatedly see large swarms succeed, while small ones, especially towards the end of the season, fail. The bees, therefore, in each swarm should be extremely numerous ; and we may confidently affirm, that the cultivator will find much of his success depend on the number of work ers contained in a single hive. It appears, that bees are discouraged by the smallness of their own num bers; that, when greatly reduced, their instinct is af fected, they labour with less activity, they cease to keep guard at the entrance of their hive, and testify more indifference for their own fate and that of their young. Whether the advantage lies in a numerous swarm ma king greater collections in a shorter time; in augment ing the temperature of the hive ; or in the different in ternal functions having larger classes of workers to perform them, we shall not attempt to decide. We therefore recommend the junction of two or more swarms into one, particularly when the period of col lection draws towards a close, and the sacrifice of their supernumerary queens. By this expedient it will be seen, that while each could hardly subsist itself, and lay up provision for winter, they will be enabled to survive during its most rigorous cold ; and, if the operation be performed earlier in summer, they will gather ample stores. Practical directions have been given for the exact weight which a good swarm should amount to. Bonner says, a swarm is very good if it weigh four pounds ; and Butler maintains, that " the goodness or greatness of a swarm you may most certainly know by the weight : it being a good one that weigheth five pounds ; a reasonable good one that weigheth four ; and a very good one that weigheth six." But the number of bees in a pound is very far from being ascertained, which must restrain is from pronouncing on the exact weight that should. constitute a good swarm. Thorley, whose work on bees participates of many of those absurdities in which most authors on this subject have allowed themselves to indulge, observes, " In October 1713, when putting the bees of a small late swarm into an empty hive, and afterwards upon a table, I took a particular account of their measure, weight, and num ber : in measure a quart ; in weight one pound and a quarter ; in number two thousand." And he con cludes, that the number of bees in a swarm weighing four or five pounds would be 8000, or upwards ; whence a suitable hive for 8000 or 10,000 bees should be equivalent to two pecks and a half, or three pecks, in capacity. The calculations of M. de Reaumur produce a very different result. A very fine swarm which left one of his hives he estimated to consist of 43,000 bees, and weighed eight pounds. Thus there are, according to him, 5376 in a pound of 16 ounces ; and Butler, who, in spite of all the extravagancies of his work, certainly made some accurate observations, estimates the number of bees in .a pound at 4450. We suspect, that both he and Reaumur have over rated the number.
The situation and arrangement of the apiary claim S the cultivator's attention. Each hive should stand a on a wooden sole, or rest, supported on a single wooden post driven into the ground, or on three close together, near the centre of the board, that the enemies of the colony may have difficulty in crawling up from below. It should be fixed securely, so as to escape being overturned by the wind ; but the common custom of laying a turf on the top must be avoided, on account of the harbour it affords to noxi ous insects. Hives should stand far'apart ; if there are six hives in one portion or division of the apiary, they should not be less than nine or twelve feet asun der. But too great a number never should be si tuated in the same district. The collections of bees are drawn solely from flowers, and perhaps, in some small measure, from honey dew, which at times appears on leaves, and is said to produce an inferior honey ; it is therefore evident, that •immense quantities of bees, actively employed, would not be long of exhausting the whole. The number of hives should, therefore, be regulated by the situation of the apiary. A district abounding with flowers and blossoms will admit of more than one where the ,• chief product is grain. An apiary ought to stand in a quiet sheltered place, where the bees may perform their labours totally undisturbed : flowers, particu larly those most fruitful in honey, should be co piously disseminated around ; a n d , for the facility of saving swarms, it is better to have low flowering shrubs in the vicinity than lofty trees. Means should
be practised to obtain a succession of flowers in suc cessive seasons, that the bees may always have the collection of Jioney in their power, and without go ' ing to a distance. It is not known how far they fly : some think they traverse several miles ; others, that their flight hardly exceeds half a league : but the accidents to which they are exposed render import ant for provisions to be near at hand. In the low country, mignonette is said to afford the finest honey, and may be kept in blossom a large portion of the year. Bromwich, an intelligent writer, relates, that, in 1779, he planted a great quantity of it before two bee hives, at a considerable distance from any other bees. With such abundant supplies as this afforded them, few ever left his garden. In September he took the honey, and found it exceed, by above a third, what he obtained from any other two of his best hives, where the bees were obliged to fly farther, and equal in fragrance and colour to what is import ed from the warmer climates. It is a favourite flower among bees ; for we have observed patches of it, in the very centre of the city of Edinburgh, resorted to from hives beyond the suburbs. Bonner affirms, that he has often " seen a hive, by being placed nigh heath, become ten, twelve, or fifteen pounds heavier in the month of August ; whereas, if it had remained in its original early situation, it would probably have become every day lighter after Lammas." . This circumstance leads us to another point which r the cultivator has to obserVe, namely, changing the situation of his apiary as the flowers surrounding it decrease. Those in one district, as.we well know, have entirely faded, while those of another are in full blow. Though the practice of transporting hives to fresh pasturage is not so general as it ought to be, probably because they are seldom numerous in the possession of individuals, it is not unknown in Scot land ; and persons in the vicinity of Edinburgh year ly send their whole stock to the Highlands, for the purpose of gathering honey. In France it is done either by land or water. M. Reaumur mentions the custom of a M. Protaut, who cultivated bees on an extensive scale, and seems to have kept between 500 and 600 hives for a manufactory of wax. These he sent twenty miles from their ordinary station, and, if theplace appropriated for them was not productive of food, they were transported still farther. Each hive was put on a coarse cloth, the corners and edges of which were turned up, and secured by binding them round with packthread. Those containing small quantities of comb were kept in the usual posi tion ; but those full of comb were reversed, in order to secure the comb. They were then disposed in tiers, two and two, throughout the whole length of carts made on purpose, from 30' to 48 being carried in each cart. The carts travelled slowly over the smoothest road when the journey was long : if the hives were slenderly stored, they sometimes halted near fertile 'fields, and the bees were allowed to go abroad to feed ; having returned at night to their dwelling, the journey was resumed. The Egyptians also transport their bees on a large scale on the river Nile. The inhabitants of Lower Egypt collect the hives belonging to different villages, and pile them up in pyramids in boats prepared to receive them. These boats slowly ascend the river, as in Higher Egypt the flowers arc earlier in bloom ; and they stop on the way, to allow the bees to fly about and make ample collections on the banks. Three months arc occupied in the voyage and return, when each hive is delivered to its proprietor, whose name, mark, or number, has been affixed to it. The modern Greeks, inhabiting the coast of Asia Minor, convey their hives also in boats from shore to shore, in order to reach newer and more abundant pasturages than what they leave. In one of these voyages we are told, that a hive being accidentally overturned, the enraged bees so keenly attacked the seamen, that they were glad to leap overboard and swim to the shore, which fortunately was not distant. The ex tent of this practice justifies our recommending it as one effectual method of increasing the quantities of honey. The hives must be transported on a spring cart, which, if well hung, an essential quality, ought to travel expeditiously through the night : and they should also be kept cool. Small holes, for the admis sion of fresh air, should be made in the bottom and sides of the hive; but the operator need not dread the consequences of keeping his bees one or two days in total confinement. In changing the situation of the apiary, certain conveniences must be sacrificed ; but when it remains stationary, its proper position is in a field or garden, where it is sheltered from the winds, and protected from the access of cattle and the curiosity of mankind, by a railing. Flowers and shrubs ought to be in the immediate vicinity, and trees at a distance. It should not be encompassed by high walls, for the bees, from either being heavily laden, or fatigued with their labours, or affected by the sudden chill of evening, predominant in our own climates, are unable to surmount it : and there are the same reasons against its being encircled by a thick et. A southern exposure is not indispensible, as Berg • man properly observes ; but hives should seldom stand in the shade. The apiary should be freed of weeds and tufts of grass close to the hive, as they harbour ver min : and spreading sand or gravel around the hives, is beneficial both in obstructiig the growth of weeds, and in absorbing moisture. 1 o save the trouble of attendance, it is convenient to have the apiary in the vicinity of a dwelling house.