But when they are fed in the spring, I think it preferable to give them about a table-spoonful a day. This has generally been accomplished, by introducing into the mouth of the hive a long boat, formed by scooping out the pith from an elder stem, and filling it with the composition. Upon this plan, no more is introduced than the case requires, and frequent opportunities are afforded of learning the condition of the bees, from the manner in which they receive the boon. If a little irascibility be exhibited, it is a symptom of health; and though indifference to the proffered bounty may not actually betoken mischief, yet it deserves attention, and should induce vigilance in the apiarian. Feeding upon the large scale in spring, tempts the bees to fill those cells which may be wanted for the queen to deposit her eggs in, and thus proves a drawback upon the strength and prosperity of the hive. It may also cause the bees to partake too freely of the syrup, and suffer from their intemperance. Whichever mode be adopted, the external entrances must be closed, during the time of feeding; and I know of no better contrivance for this purpose than Mr. Huish's tin guards. Without this precaution, unfed stranger bees, attracted by the smell of the syrup, will banquet upon it; and these marauders, having once tasted the repast, will not only return to it again and again themselves, but bring in

their train a multitude of others, to the great injury of the well fed apiary. The way in which I feed my own bees is exceedingly simple, and attended with no risk to the apiarian. At the close of the gathering season, I turn my boxes and their floors a quarter round, and adapt to them a long narrow box with a glass top and two openings, one at the end, serving as a street door, the other in the side serving as a hall door leading into the box, as shown in the following sketch.

In an evening, when the bees are all at home, I push in the slide of the floor board, raise the glazed box, and place the syrup under it then I close the external entrance, and withdraw the slide to admit the bees to the food: by morning I generally find that my donation has been removed. I place the syrup in a small shallow saucer, covered over with Scotch gauze, through which the bees suck it without smearing their wings. If the gauze hang over the sides of the saucer, it

will act as a syphon, and the syrup be wasted to obviate this inconvenience, a small hoop of whalebone, cane, or other pliable material should be just dropped within the edges of the saucer, and upon this hoop the gauze should be stretched, turned over and secured with a needle and thread.

CHAPTER xxiv.

DISEASES OF BEES.

I SUSPECT that much which has been written upon
this subject is fanciful, and that most of the ailments
of bees originate from want of cleanliness or want
of food; for if bees be not kept clean, and be not
supplied with food in backward springs, particu-
larly in those which succeed mild winters, a mor-
tality among them is usually experienced; and it
is in spring that their alleged maladies prevail.
"For late the lynx-ey'd scout, in nice survey,
Had mark'd the ravage of ungenial May,
Where the lorn bee-herd wail'd his empty shed,
Its stores exhausted, and its tenants dead."
"So mourn'd Arcadia's swain* his honey'd host,
By keen disease or keener famine lost,

Till his fond mother, on her glassy throne,
Heard through deep Peneus't wave the filial moan.
EVANS.

During a mild winter the stock of honey is often exhausted, such a season encouraging the bees to

Aristaus, the son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, to whom mankind were said to be indebted for the art of curdling milk, managing bees, making hives, and cultivating olives; on which account he was worshipped as a God by the Greeks. He was the father of the unfortunate Actæon. † A river of Thessaly.

be active, without affording any resources beyond their own domicile; yet it is not uncommon to hear the keepers of bees speak of a mild winter as favourable for the bees. It is most unfavourable to them; and if feeding be not duly attended to, frequently fatal. Hence a northern aspect has been recommended for hives during winter; and if guarded by proper coverings, and contrivances against snow and other bad weather, such an aspect is highly proper. THE REV. STEPHEN WHITE observes, that if hives be placed on the northern side of a building, the bees will seldom be induced to come out, and will eat much less than if exposed to the winter's sun. MR. GEDDE recommends keeping them during winter, not only in a cold, but in a dark situation, in order to lessen the consumption of honey. He even suggests the use of an ice-house, having found that bees survive the cold in Siberia, and render Russia somewhat remarkable for its productiveness of honey. "A very observing gentleman," says DR. DARWIN,

at my request, put two hives for many weeks into a dry cellar, and observed, during all that time, that they did not consume any of their provision, for their weight did not decrease, as it had done when they were kept in the open air." The same observation is made in the Annual Register for 1768, p. 113. The sudden transitions from heat to cold, and from cold to heat, experienced