REARING AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 



as violent heat is injurious, not only to the bees, but to the wax and honry. 

 The country around the apiary should be of a sandy soil, abounding with 

 plants and shrubs. As bees love cleanliness and quiet, the circumjacent space 

 should be kept clean, and free from offensive smells and noise: smoke is par- 

 ticularly disagreeable to them. The boards or table on which the hives are 

 placed, should be dry, clean, and sound; and the hives ought to be sufficiently 

 raised to prevent their exposure to dampness and insects; they should also be 

 kept at a distance from a wall, to avoid the reflected heat of the sun. In the 

 table on which the hives are to stand, there should be an aperture, under each, 

 about two inches square, as it is represented at e, in the following cut: 



This aperture should be covered with a piece 

 of tin, drilled full of small holes, so as to afford 

 a free passage to the air, and at the same time 

 prevent the ingress of insects. That this may 

 not occasion any inconvenience to the bees in 

 cold and damp weather, there must be a sliding 

 piece of wood, /, under the tin, by which the 

 hole may be completely covered. 



When it is intended to introduce a swarm of 

 bees into a new hive, it mus*t be thoroughly 

 cleaned, and the inside rubbed with virgin wax. 

 It is advantageous to place a piece of clean honey-comb, about nine inches 

 long, in the hive, and care should also be taken to choose that which is made 

 of very white wax. This piece being supported by a slick passed through it, 

 offers to the bees a kind of nest, and excites them to continue their work. 



The new hive being thus prepared, the manner of introducing the bees into 

 it, from an old hive, is as follows: the latter must be placed upon one of the 

 boxes of the new one; but as it will seldom happen that they are of the same 

 size, and exactly fit each other, a board, at least as wide as the largest of the 

 two hives, and which has a hole equal in size to the smallest, must be placed 

 between them, and completely joined with cement, or by any other means, in 

 such a manner as to be quite close, and to leave the bees no passage except 

 into the new hive. As these insects generally work downwards, they will 

 soon get into the new hive; and, when it is occupied by about one-half of the 

 swarm, some holes must be made in the top of the old hive, and kept covered, 

 till the proper time for making use of them. 



Every thing being disposed as above directed, we must take the opportunity 

 of a fine morning (but not a very hot one), about eight or nine o'clock, at 

 which time most 01 the bees are generally out of the hive, gathering their 

 harvest. The comb is to be cut through, by means of a piece of iron wire, 

 and the old hive, with the board on which it stands, is to be separated from 

 the new one. An a^i-tant must immediately place the cover (already well 

 fitted) upon the top of the new hive. The old hive is then to be taken away, 

 to the distance of thirty or forty paces, and to be there placed upon two chairs, 

 or other supports, in such a manner as to be quite firm; but leaving a free 

 space, both above and below, for the following purpose. 



Upon this old hive (the holes at the top of it being first opened) is to be 

 placed one of the boxes of the new hive, having the cover loosely fastened on 

 it, so that it can easily be removed; this box must be fixed upon the old hive, 

 in such a manner (by closing the intervals between them with linen cloths, 

 &c.) that the bees, upon going out by the holes in the top of the old hive, can 

 only go into the new one. In order to drive them into it, some live coals must 

 be placed under the old hive, upon which a few linen rags may be thrown, to 

 produce a great volume of smoke. As the smoke rises, the bees, being incom- 

 moded by it. will ascend to the top of the old hive, and at length will go through 

 the holes into the new one. When all the bees, or nearly all, are gone into it, 

 (which may be known by looking in at the little door, or by their noise,) it is 

 to be removed gently from the old hive, and placed under the box already 

 alluded to, the top or cover being previously taken off. The next morning, if 

 it should appear that the two boxes, of which the new hive is now composed, 

 do not afford sufficient space for the bees, a third box may be added, under the 

 others; and after that a fourth, if necessary, as their work goes on, changing 



