2 MAY 1874, Page 14

THE " SAVOIR-FAIRE " OF BEES.

[TO TEl EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR,—None of your correspondents have adverted to the fact, which is well known here, that bees are in Scotland removed from- the Lowlands to the nearest Highlands while the heather is in bloom,_ and taken home again when the bloom is over ; this is done to- give the honey the peculiar tint and flavour imparted by the heather. I have seen hives of bees which had been taken a good' many miles in a cart to a moorland estate near Loch Lomond ; the' hives were ranged beside the shooting lodge, on an exposed hill- side, surrounded by thousands of acres of blooming heather,—a situation very unlike the sheltered garden to which the bees had been accustomed. I find from " Chambers'a Encyclopaedia" (art. Bee), that the practice of changing the pasturage of bees is not peculiar to Scotland, and the fact that it is beneficial seems an answer to your correspondent " G.'s" remark that bees are " dumb- founded " by a change of residence.

It may be that there are bees and bees, and that the Scotch and some other races have learned to- adapt themselves to change of circumstances.—I am, Sir, &c., ANOTHER Bust OLD MAID,—.& ,SCOTCH