764. Bees are cultivated in the mountainous districts of Hindostan. A correspondent of the Gardener's Magazine, writing from the Kossya mountains, 4500 feet above the level of the sea, says, that he was 'delighted to find bees cultivated by the mountaineers, who, instead of hives, use the hollowed trunk of a tree, and plug it up at each end, closing the joints with lime mortar. The box thus made is preserved from the heat of the sun, by being placed under the eaves of the thatch of the cottages (which extend two or three feet, and come down very low, to exclude the heavy rains which fall in this country for seven months); or it is protected at a distance by a few mats. The honey is excellent.' (Gard. Mag., vol. viii.)
