I. Proper Situation for an Apiary.--It must be sheltered from the prevailing winds, and yet not blocked up in the front, by high trees or buildings ; open to the sun in the morning, and yet so constructed as to screen the hives from its direct rays at mid-day ; this may be done by an overhanging roof, which will also keep the drippings of the rain from the hives. Every one may use his own taste in the form of "his bee house. This is of no consequence, if the hives be only screened from the sun and sheltered from the wind ; and "yet I think a shed open in front, so that the air may circulate freely about the hives, "and keep away damp, with room enough for one or more persons to pass along at the back of the hives, and look into any which may have windows, or glasses on the top, is as good a form as can be. It is not indeed at all necessary to have any house at first. The single hive, with which a settler begins his bee keeping, may stand on a stool, in some sheltered nook of his garden, within sight of his door, if it be only covered by a straw hackle, such as are used for this purpose in England. And when not this single hive alone, but a goodly row of off-shoots is seen in his garden, when the owner of them finds bee keeping a pleasant and profitable employment, he may then think of putting up a permanent shed for his favourites, _or rather their produce of the following year_ (for he must beware of moving his old stocks),* " and within sight of his door," because his bees must be in some place where the eye of the master can be constantly upon them, specially at swarming time, or else many an unheeded swarm will make off into the woods. I remember to have seen in Switzerland hives standing in a handy and picturesque situation, viz., on a shelf under the overhanging gable end of the houses, which are almost universally decorated with this beautiful living cornice. I fear it will be a long time before our English settlers get out of the way of running up the sightless square weatherboard boxes, with which our clearings are studded, where there is not a foot's breadth of shade or shelter under roof or gable, no room to place a row of hives, hardly room under the eaves for a swallow to build her nest, were there such a bird to gladden the coutages of this island. Remember, I do not speak up for a Swiss coutage merely by reason of its great outward beauty, but as an excellent shelter in a climate remarkable for the severity of its storms of wind and rain. A weather-boarded box is neither wind nor water proof, and nearly as hot as an oven in summer, whilst a Swiss farm house is warm in winter and cool in summer. This by the way. I said above that your bee house must be sheltered from the prevailing winds. You may perhaps answer, " What is the use of trying to keep bees in such a place as this, if wind be hurtful to them, for sure we have enough and to spare?" Let your bee house itself be sheltered, and then, as to the rest, the bees will look out for themselves. You may observe them tacking about, as it were, in order to get to windward, and taking advantage of every bit of available cover, like clever sharpshooters, and as long as they are at the top of their speed they will come to no harm. But when they are preparing to pitch on the lighting board of the hive, and are poised as it were in the air, like a bird before it perches, then it is that a violent blast of wind cutting across the mouth of the hive throws them to the ground, and if it is wet and cold they get chilled and cannot rise again. This often happens when there is plenty of honey and bee bread to be collected. I have seen hundreds of bees strewn in the front of a hive, with their thighs heavily laden with their yellow freight. N.B. It is quite a fable to say, as bee writers have done one after another, that bees,when overtaken by high winds, pick up little pebbles to steady them in their passage home. The loads of bee bread, which often prove fatal to them, must have been taken for this. So much for the situation proper for your bees in reference to your own house and garden. What I have to say about the best stations for extensive a suppose the increase to be much less than this--say from five to ten fold every year; and he must be a stingy bee master indeed who will not freely give out of this his abundance. Yet I am sorry to have heard in New Zealand of persons selling bees at high prices, and of others complaining that they could not get them at all; that those who have bees would neither sell nor give, though the new apiary was to be in an outlying district where the bees could not possibly interfere with those already established. This is not as it should be. In many parts of England no man would think of doing such a thing as paying money for a hive. He would hold it unlucky, and say that bought bees never come to good; so he be begs a swarm from a friend on these terms: --next year a swarm is returned with a pot of honey as interest, or a little pig given in exchange. This is a sort of half and half measure, springing I doubt not from a good feeling at bottom. But it is not enough to please me. I hope all who read this Manual will take the hint, and freely give away a certain portion of their increase, one in three, one in five, or one in ten, not as thinking it unlucky to sell them, but from a desire to do a good turn to their neighbours whenever it is in their power.