BEE CULTURE. 287 



adopted, the hive should be constructed in the thorough manner 

 which has been alluded to above. 



Location. — A bee-hive should never be exposed to the direct 

 rajs of the sun during the summer season, and in the winter it 

 is to a certain extent injurious, especially if the hive is unpainted 

 or is of a dark color. A dark colored hive, if it is painted, or 

 one "which is the color of the wood, absorbs the rays of the sun 

 and causes too much heat in the hive. The high temperature 

 which is thus produced, causes the bees to cluster upon the 

 outside of the hive in summer, and not unfrequently results in 

 what is called " melting down," which is nothing more nor less 

 than the soft state of the wax or comb, which falls by its own 

 weight when the cells are filled with honey. A bee-hive should 

 be placed in the open air and in the shade. The best place is 

 under the south half of a tree, where, from 9 o'clock, A. M., 

 until 4 o'clock, P. M., it will be shaded or protected from the 

 direct rays of the sun. There it should remain during the 

 entire year. Nothing will be gained by removing the hive to 

 the attic, the cellar, or a dark room, in winter. I have tried 

 all these experiments to my entire satisfaction. More bees will 

 be lost by such a transfer, than by permitting them to remain 

 in the open air. 



Swarming. — Divers opinions have been entertained relative 

 to the theory and expediency of swarming, and these different 

 opinions have led to very different methods of bee management. 

 One virtually believing that the propensity of the bee to swarm, 

 should not be gratified, or that the Creator (thus impeaching 

 His wisdom) has given them a wrong bias, has devised some 

 method to interrupt or prevent this " wild freak of nature." 

 Another, fearing that the bees — poor ignorant creatures — do 

 not understand the best method of conducting this process, or 

 that they w^ill mistake the best time of attending to the matter, 

 has undertaken to hasten the process by some " hot bed " 

 arrangement, or volunteered to give them a few elementary 

 lessons, relative to a matter which he understands [query] 

 much better than they. In the view of one, the bees swarm 

 too often. In the view of the other, they do not swarm often 

 enough. Both of these cannot be right, perhaps neither of 



