But whether they thought proper to kill a queen for themselves or not, was a fact that I had no means to ascertain.
Thus encouraged by my first experiment, I proceeded to extend it. My whole apiary consisted of eight Huish hives, isolated on single pillars of wood, at the distance of three feet from each other. We emptied three more of the hives, and joined a swarm to each of the remaining three, making four doubled stock hives. The gardener who has the care of them, had five hives of his own, three of which were deprived of their honey in the same way, and the swarms joined to the remaining two, which he had kept as stock hives; and I am now enabled to state exactly the quantity of honey that each has consumed from September 1828, to the end of March 1829.
| No. 1. | diminished | 12 | lb. |
| 2. | " | 9 | |
| 3. | " | 12 | |
| 4. | " | 11 |
The Gardener's Hives.
| No. 1. | A large common hive | 17 | lb. |
| 2. | A Huish hive | 13 |
It ought, however, to be mentioned, that my four hives got a pound and a half of honey among them, in February; but those belonging to the gardener got no feeding. The entrances of all of them were left open during the winter, and there were not altogether above two dozen dead bees found on the boards, when they were lifted to be weighed.
The gardener's hive. No. 2., received two swarms in addition to its own; and this allied army took possession just as peaceably as the others, and actually consumed less honey during the winter than No. 1., which was only doubled. In effecting the union, the citizens had been plentifully regaled with a sprinkling of liquid honey, previous to the introduction of the strangers; and there were as many luscious drops of the banquet left, as gave the new comers no disrelish to their quarters.
For some years past, I have suffered no sticks to be put across the inside of any of my hives, as they render the extraction of the combs impracticable.
It may be right to add, in conclusion, that I have, in one or two places, slightly altered the text where the meaning seemed obscure, and where mistakes might otherwise have occurred. I ought, perhaps, to have translated these passages quite literally, and to have corrected them in separate notes; but ignorance of book-making must be my excuse.