. The book of garden management : Comprising information on laying out and planting Gardening -- Great Britain. â '^'^'^ \C^',.^\^'^-^a"^< \^-). CHAPTER XXV. BEE-KEEPING. 1294. Tnis is an important branch ofrural economy in all countries, andtlierG â are, probably, few gardens in which the beehive does not find a place ; but certainly, with us, it has never attained the importance to which it is entitled. In this country, where highly-cultivated plains, valleys, and wood- lands so abound, with ranges of hills of moderate elevation, there is no end to the extent to which bee-
. The book of garden management : Comprising information on laying out and planting Gardening -- Great Britain. â '^'^'^ \C^',.^\^'^-^a"^< \^-). CHAPTER XXV. BEE-KEEPING. 1294. Tnis is an important branch ofrural economy in all countries, andtlierG â are, probably, few gardens in which the beehive does not find a place ; but certainly, with us, it has never attained the importance to which it is entitled. In this country, where highly-cultivated plains, valleys, and wood- lands so abound, with ranges of hills of moderate elevation, there is no end to the extent to which bee-keeping might be carried ; but how few and far between are the apiaries worthy of remark ;âa few miserable straw hives covered with turf, or shut up in miserable wooden hovels in the winter season, are the abodes of the industrious and highly-civilized bee. If we could only impress upon our rural population how highly-productive bee-keeping is to the rural population of foreign counti'ies, and rouse them to similar exer- tions, a great national advantage would be gained. 1295. The hive-bee {Apis melUfica) may be regarded as one of the most perfectly social species of insects, and one whose economy is regulated by the possession of a more perfect degree of instinct than is possessed by any other of the insect tribes. Another peculiarity, necessarily depending on the social habits of these insects, is the existence of individuals which have been regarded by many as a thii-d sex, but which modern investigations have ascertained to be female insects, whose internal and sexual organization is in an undeveloped state. These individuals, neuters or mules, or workers, or female non-breeders as they havebeen termed, constitute the great mass of the population of the hive; they are the smallest members of the community, and it is to them that the internal economy of the hive is committed, the whole labour of the community devolving upon them. Moreover, it is their duty to guard and pr
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Keywords: ., bookauthorbeetonsamue, bookpublisherlondonsobeeton, bookyear1862
