REARIXC? AND FEEDING OF ANIMALS. 40 \ 



Two advantages are derived 

 from this construction. First, 

 the little door in the box, and the 

 contrivance for opening and 

 shutting it, will be unnecessary. 

 Secondly, it is sometimes pro- 

 per to diminish or enlarge the 

 opening for the passage of the 

 bees, accord ing to circumstances, 

 without shutting it entirely, and 

 this may be done with the great- 

 est ease, by moving the hive 

 nearer to, or farther from, the 

 edge of the table; or this passage 

 may be entirely closed, by mov- 

 ing the front of the hive beyond 

 the groove; but in that case some 

 small holes must be made in the 

 hive to let in air, which may be 

 stopped up when that formed by the groove is open. 



A farther advantage attending this conduction is, that as the groove will 

 have a slanting direction, the 'bees will thereby be enabled, with very little 

 trouble, to remove from the hive any dead bees, excrement, &c. which may be 

 obnoxious to their nature. 



Whoever intends to erect an apiary, should purchase hives towards the 

 close of the year, when they are cheapest; and such only as are full of combs, 

 and stocked with a sufficient number of bees. In order to ascertain the age of 

 the hives, it should be remarked, that the combs of the last year are white, 

 while those of the former year acquire a darkish yellow. Where the combs 

 are black, the hive should be rejected as too old, and liable to the inroads of 

 vermin. 



Bees never swarm till the hive is too much crowded by the young brood. 

 They sometimes begin to swarm in May, or earlier, according to the warmth 

 of the season. As soon as a swarm is settled, the bees should be immediately 

 hived, to prevent their taking wing again. If they settle on a low branch of a 

 tree, it may be cut off and laid on a cloth, the hive being ready for their recep- 

 tion; but if it be difficult to reach them, it will be advisable to let them remain 

 where they have settled till the evening, when there will be less danger of 

 their escaping. 



When the swarm is hived, they should be immediately removed to the 

 apiary, but the hive should be kept near the place at which the bees settled, 

 till the evening, lest some stragglers might be lost. 



The usual method of uniting swarms, is by spreading a cloth at night upon 

 the ground close to the hive in which the two swarms are to be placed. Lay 

 a stick across the cloth, on which place the hive with the new swarm: on 

 giving a smart stroke on the top of the hive, all the bees will drop in a cluster 

 upon the cloth. Then take another hive from the stool, and place it over the 

 bees, when they will ascend into it, and mix with those already there. An- 

 other method is, to invert the hive in which the united swarms are to live, and 

 strike the bees of the other hives into it, in the manner before described. 



A large swarm weighs eight pounds, and others gradually less, to one 

 pound. Hence a good swarm should weigh five or six pounds. Such as are 

 less than four pounds weight, should be strengthened by a small additional 

 swarm. The size of the hive ought to be proportionate to the number of the 

 bees, and it should be rather too small than top large, as these insects require 

 to be kept warmer than a large hive will admit. 



In Britain, it is usual, in taking the honey, to deprive the bees t)f their lives. 

 The common method is, to suffocate them with the smoke of brimstone; but 

 Mr. MANLEY has adopted a more humane and judicious plan: he says, "I never 

 destroy the old stock of bees; but after lifting them, to examine what honey 

 there is, if I think the hive is full, I put another under it with a flat top, having 

 a square hole in the centre. When the bees are in the under hive, I place a 



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