H2 My Bees 



hives, each type having its champions, is a very 

 large one, and almost every well-known bee- 

 keeper has left a hive of his own devising which 

 is expected to do something that other hives 

 will not do. It has been found by long ex- 

 perience that bees are very accommodating in- 

 sects, and will adapt themselves to almost any 

 variety of home, provided it is sufficiently dark 

 and secure from the attacks of animals. 



My first year's experience consisted in open- 

 ing the hives every day or two, after suffocat- 

 ing all the bees with five times the necessary 

 amount of smoke, and studying what was going 

 on inside. This effectually prevented the bees 

 from making any honey, but it gave me some 

 insight into their habits, and a very perfect 

 knowledge of the treatment of stings. As to 

 honey, the first year was only a partial success. 

 The very day after the beehive arrived and had 

 been put in place, I put over the frames every 

 honey-box that came with the hive, and watched 

 for the result. In one of my books it is re- 

 corded that a swarm of bees will sometimes 

 bring in as much as twenty pounds of honey 

 in one day ; my bees had evidently never read 



