we cannot, of course, expect them to be very successful. I have entered fully into this subject, when speaking of early and late swarms, page 115. To obviate the consequences there apprehended, some apiarians have had recourse to the practice of removing their bees to fresh pasture; to districts where buckwheat is cultivated, or to the neighbourhood of heaths, or to any other place where such late blossoming flowers abound as afford honey. Mr. ISAAC assures us that he once had a poor swarm of a month's standing, which only weighed five pounds four ounces, and that on the 30th of July he had it removed to Dartmoor Heath, from whence it was brought home, two months afterwards, increased in weight twenty-four pounds and a half. He moreover states that the increase of others, that were sent there, was nearly proportional, and is of opinion that the whole addition was made during the month of August. In LOWER EGYPT, where the flower harvest is not so early as in the upper districts of that country, this practice of transportation is carried on to a considerable extent. The hives after being collected together from the different villages, and conveyed up the Nile marked and numbered by the individuals to whom they belong, are heaped pyramidally upon the boats prepared to receive them, which floating gradually down the river and The stopping at certain stages of their passage, remain there a longer or shorter time, according to the produce which is afforded by the surrounding country. "After travelling three months in this manner, the bees, having culled the perfumes of the orange flowers of the Said, the essence of roses* of the Faicum, the treasures of the Arabian jessamine, and a variety of flowers, are brought back to the places from which they had been carried. This industry procures, for the Egyptians, delicious honey, and abundance of bees-wax. proprietors, in return, pay the boatmen a recompence proportioned to the number of hives which have been thus carried about from one extremity of Egypt to the other." LATREILLE states that between Cairo and Damietta a convoy of 4000 hives were seen upon the Nile by NIEBUHR, on their transit from the upper to the lower districts of that country. Floating bee-hives were formerly common also in FRANCE. One barge was capable of containing from 60 to 100 hives, which, floating gently down their rivers, enabled the bees to gather the honey which is afforded by the flowers on their banks. REAUMUR likewise states it to have been the practice in some districts to transport them with similar views, by land, in vehicles * Whatever inducement the bees of Egypt may have to ply the roses of that country, with us they pay very little attention to those beautiful flowers. contrived for the purpose. In SAVOY, PIEDMONT, and other parts of ITALY, the practice is also common. It is indeed of very ancient origin. Columella speaks of it as a very general custom among the Greeks, who used annually to send their beehives from Achaia into Attica. These, however, are advantages which very few situations can afford; probably but few of my readers may reside in the neighbourhood of heaths, and still fewer may be disposed to incur the trouble and expense of removal. If therefore incorporation be desirable in any particular case, I can only recommend that attention be paid to feeding the bees with sugared ale; by the assistance of which, indeed, I should not be afraid of carrying, even a weak stock, very safely through the winter and early spring. "Give your bees," says Mr. Isaac, "two harvests in one summer" (alluding to the practice of transportation), "and you may make almost any swarm rich enough to live through the following winter." This second harvest may be very efficiently supplied by an attention to feeding, during mild weather in winter, and particularly in the early spring,-for the management of which, see Chap. XXIII. on Feeding. CHAPTER XX. PROPER PERIODS OF DEPRIVATION. Ir should be an invariable rule with the apiarian, never to remove an upper hive or box, till an under one be quite full; and even then, it should be ascertained that the contents of the inferior one, (if taken at Michaelmas,) be not less than 18 pounds. If it do not contain so much, a sufficient quantity should be returned in the box that has been removed, otherwise recourse must be had to feeding. MR. ISAAC says that he has carried a colony that had no honey at Michaelmas, safely through the winter and spring, with only eight pounds of honey. Huber succeeded with less; but it appears that his observations were made upon weak stocks that were not altogether destitute. A variety of experiments were made by MR. JOHN HUNTER and MR. KEYS, to ascertain the quantity consumed during the respective months of winter and spring, and they all led to one conclusion, namely, that it amounted upon an average to eight pounds, taking the season through, from the beginning of October to the end of May, when the spring proves ungenial. During the first six months the consumption was not more than five pounds upon an average, and the colder the weather the smaller was the consumption. Vide 2nd page of Chap. XXIV. As a general rule,-no honey should be taken from a colony the first year of its being planted, though there may be an extraordinary season now and then, which may justify a departure from this rule; but neither in such an uncommon year, nor even in the second year, should the whole of the combs in any box be taken, (unless it be clearly ascertained that the centre combs contain no brood,) but only the external ones, which should be examined carefully one by one, and the brood combs, if any, be returned in the box to the stock. The apiarian, as HUBER observes, if he wish to obtain a considerable quantity of honey, should endeavour to secure his object rather by the number of his colonies, than by plundering a few of a great proportion of their treasures. A moderate participation is the most infallible means of preserving the stock. ...... Should "Summer signs auspicious ride, |