FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



295 



a strong colony that stored well throughout the season in 

 a prosperous year may have had the brood-chamber so 

 stocked with brood that not enough honey was in the 

 brood-chamber, so it is well to heft and weigh even in 

 the best seasons, and to do this late enough so that storing 

 from flowers need no longer be taken into account, and 



Fig. 102. — i2-Section Shipping-Case. 



SO early that there will be abundance of time for the bees 

 to arrange matters to their liking in the brood-chamber. 



WEIGHING COLONIES. 



A common spring balance with a capacity of eighty 

 pounds is used for weighing (Fig. 105). An endless 

 rope passes around the hive under the cleat at each end, 

 then the hook of the spring balance passes under the two 

 parts of the rope over the hive, and the slack is taken up 

 by tying a string around the two parts under the hook. 

 A hickory stick used as a lever passes through the ring 



