oking
themselves one to another with their feet, and remain perfectly
tranquil. Then it is that the proprietor may secure them, and form a new
colony.

In this manner several swarmings take place in the course of the summer
between the months of April and August. A good stock of bees usually
produces three swarms in a favourable season: each swarm containing not
only the young bees recently hatched, but also a portion of the old
inhabitants. The duration of life of the different individuals is
various: the male bees only live a few months, the workers only one or
two years, and the queen only four or five. Such is, in brief, the
birth, parentage, education, life, character, and behaviour of the
honey-bee, and it will be only necessary now to say a few words
regarding the management of these insects, with a view to instruction,
amusement, and profit.

HOW TO GET A STOCK OF BEES.

They must be purchased, and the purchaser must take care and procure
them of some one upon whom he may depend. This will save a great deal of
trouble. The hive should be weighed before and after a swarm is placed
in it, and a note kept of its weight, a judgment may then be formed of
the quantity of honey it contains in the autumn.

The hives should be sheltered by a wall, a hedge, or a tuft of trees, in
order that the bees may get to the door of the hives with ease. This
they cannot do if there are gusts of air sweeping round it, in which
case, numbers of them will fall to the ground about the hive, from
which, perhaps, they will not be able to rise before the chill and damp
of the evening comes on and destroys them.

There must be water near the hives, as the working bees drink a great
deal in the spring, and they are very fond of walking along straws which
float in the water and sipping as much as they want. The door of the
hive should look towards the forenoon sun, and the hive should not be
raised above eighteen inches from the ground.

We will now suppose that your bees have laid up their winter store, and
that you wish to share it with them. We say share it, because we do not
suppose you are so cruel and foolish as to wish to kill your bees. You
might as well kill a cow for the purpose of getting milk. The more bees
you have, the more honey,--that is certain.

About the latter end of September, the flowering season is over, and few
flowers remain for the bees to get honey from. This is the best time to
ascertain what honey they