lfa, and especially clover which is of great service to the bees
which are sick, for it begins to bloom at the vernal equinox and lasts
until that of autumn. As clover is the best food for sick bees, so
thyme is the best for making honey, and it is because Sicily abounds
in good thyme that it takes the palm for producing honey. On this
account some men bruise thyme in a mortar and mix warm water with it
and then spray all their nursery plants with it for the sake of the
bees.

"The hives should be set as near the house as convenient: some men even
put them under the very portico for greater safety. Hives are made in
various shapes and sizes and of different material;[210] thus some make
them round out of wicker work: others of frame covered with bark:
others use hollow tree trunks: others vessels of pottery: some even
build them square out of rods, allowing about three feet in length and
a foot in height, but these dimensions should be reduced where you
have not enough bees to fill a hive of that size, for fear that the
bees might become discouraged by too large an empty space.

"The bee hive derives its name _alvus_, which is the same as our word
for belly, from the fact that it holds food, that is to say, honey;
and it is on this analogy that hives are usually shaped to imitate the
form of the belly, small in the waist and bulging out below. When the
hives are made of wicker work they should be coated evenly within and
without with ox dung[211] so that the bees may not be driven away by
the roughness of their roof. The hives should be so ordered under the
shelter of a wall that they may not be disturbed nor touch one another
when arranged in ranks, for it is the practice to place hives in two
and some times three separated ranks, but the opinion is that it is
better to reduce the ranks to two than to increase them to four. In
the middle of the hive small openings are made on the right and the
left to serve as entrances for the bees, and on top is placed a
practicable cover, which may be removed to give access to the honey
comb. This is best when made of bark, and worst of pottery, because
that is strongly affected both by the cold of winter and the heat of
summer. In spring and summer the bee keeper should inspect each hive
at least three times a month, fumigating them lightly, cleaning
and throwing out dirt and worms. At the same time he should take
precautions to keep down the number of princes, for they keep the b