with the exception of a little generally given to them during the winter.
Their habitation is a hive instead of a hole in a tree. Bees, however, have
been transported into almost every quarter of the world, so that climate
ought to have produced whatever direct effect it is capable of producing.
It is frequently asserted that the bees in different parts of Great Britain
differ in size, colour, and temper; and Godron[491] says that they are
generally larger in the south than in other parts of France; it has also
been asserted that the little brown bees of High Burgundy, when transported
to La Bresse, become large and yellow in the second generation. But these
statements require confirmation. As far as size is concerned, it is known
that bees produced in very old combs are smaller, owing to the cells having
become smaller from the {298} successive old cocoons. The best
authorities[492] concur that, with the exception of the Ligurian race or
species, presently to be mentioned, distinct breeds do not exist in Britain
or on the Continent. There is, however, even in the same stock, some
variability in colour. Thus Mr. Woodbury states[493] that he has several
times seen queen bees of the common kind annulated with yellow like
Ligurian queens, and the latter dark-coloured like common bees. He has also
observed variations in the colour of the drones, without any corresponding
difference in the queens or workers of the same hive. The great apiarian
Dzierzon, in answer to my queries on this subject, says[494] that in
Germany bees of some stocks are decidedly dark, whilst others are
remarkable for their yellow colour. Bees also seem to differ in habits in
different districts, for Dzierzon adds, "If many stocks with their
offspring are more inclined to swarm, whilst others are richer in honey, so
that some bee-keepers even distinguish between swarming and honey-gathering
bees, this is a habit which has become second nature, caused by the
customary mode of keeping the bees and the pasturage of the district. For
example; what a difference in this respect one may perceive to exist
between the bees of the Lueneburg heath and those of this country!"...
"Removing an old queen and substituting a young one of the current year is
here an infallible mode of keeping the strongest stock from swarming and
preventing drone-breeding; whilst the same means if adopted in Hanover
would certainly be of no avail." I procured a hive full of dead bees from