THE HONEY-BEE. 2 13 



is finished. The other may now be brought from its 

 confinement, and placed on another pedestal. Pos- 

 sessing a queen, there is little danger of any of the 

 bees leaving it for the other ; and even this may be 

 effectually prevented by placing that other in con- 

 finement for twenty-four hours, after which time, 

 the hive with the old queen will have become ac- 

 customed to their new station. 



We have recommended the employment of smoke 

 in the above operation. This is so useful an auxi- 

 liary in every operation with bees, that it is worth 

 while to ascertain the most effectual and convenient 

 method of using it. Howatson has given a descrip- 

 tion of an instrument which seems well enough suited 

 to the purpose : " We use," says he, " a fumigat- 

 ing box of tin, of the form of which we cannot give 

 a better idea, though rather a ludicrous one, than 

 supposing it an old shoe, with a hole in the toe, 

 and a spur on the heel ; the mouth of this shoe, 

 moreover, is covered with a hinged lid. The spur 

 is a tube communicating with the interior, for receiv* 

 ing the pipe of a pair of common hand-bellows, the 

 blast of which drives the smoke forward through 

 the hole in the toe into the skep. The burning 

 rags, or other materials for producing the smoke, lie 

 directly under the lid, and a piece of moveable per- 

 forated tin is put in near the mouth, so as to intercept 

 the sparks which would otherwise be emitted, and 

 burn the bees or melt the combs. This fumigating 

 box is ten inches long and three broad ; it is two 

 inches deep at the heel, and tapers gradually down 



