HIVE, AND HOW TO HANDLE IT 95 



reason, and the middle of the day is the best time 

 for the work. 



Send two or three puffs of smoke in at the entrance 

 to drive back the frightened sentinels who keep care- 

 ful watch of the portals of the hive. Then lift one 

 edge of the cover of the hive a little and send two or 

 three puffs in the crack; then lift off the cover and 

 set it down beside you; then lift the quilt or super- 

 cover at one edge, and give two or three puffs of 

 smoke beneath it to drive the bees down among the 

 frames, always remembering that under ordinary 

 circumstances a very little smoke is necessary to 

 frighten and subdue the bees. In fact the same 

 rule applies to smoking bees as to smoking tobacco; 

 if one is moderate in its use, the least harm will 

 result. 



HOW TO EXAMINE THE BROOD-CHAMBER. (Plate VIII.) 



Stand at one side of the hive, and not in front of it. 

 Hang the smoker on the side of the hive, so as to 

 have it within reach. Mr. Root advises sitting on 

 the cover of the hive set on edge while you examine 

 the brood-frame. This will do for a well-poised 

 person, but we prefer a little stool, which we can 

 carry easily from hive to hive, as we wish something 

 that we can sit on calmly as the situation requires. 

 Commence at one side and loosen the outside section 

 with a knife, or what is better, an old screw-driver. 

 Take the frame by the projecting ends, and lift it up 

 so that you may examine it on one side, then twirl it 

 half-way over to examine it on the other. It requires 



