Bee Keeping in Italy

133.Bees are kept in most parts of Italy in straw hives, similar to those in use in Britain. They are also kept in wooden boxes of various kinds; and in the neighbourhood of Placentia, Cadell informs us, the hives are formed of the hollow trunk of a tree one foot in diameter, and two feet high. These hives are placed on a shelf fixed to the outer wall of the house, high up, being eight or ten feet from the ground. (Travels, &c., vol. ii. p. 144.) Sardinia has long been celebrated for its bees, one species of which produces a bitter honey. (Azuni, Hist, &c.)