238 



TUB FARM. 



question naturally arises, What is the best method for clipping it? We 

 have tried all plans, and find the quickest, easiest and the least risk attend- 

 ing the following: Lift from the hive the comb on which you find the queen, 

 slant it toward the hive with the lower end resting on the gi-ound and the 

 upper end against the hive, make no rapid motions to alarm the queen, but, 

 deliberately wait till she is in a position that you can grasp the end of one 

 wing between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, then with a sharp 

 pocket knife and an up and backward motion cut off about one-third of the 

 wing. If deliberate in your movements, the queen vnW not become 

 nervous, nor will she be aware she had been meddled with, no scent of the 



fingers will be left on 

 either her wings or 

 body, and no commo- 

 tion created in the hive. 



A 11 Unpatented 

 Bee Hive. — Apiarians 

 know full well the im- 

 portance of providing 

 the honey bee with a 

 properly constructed 

 and well aiTanged hive, 

 in which these little 

 workers may safely 

 store the nectar care- 

 fully gathered from the 

 blossomin- " sweets o t 

 earth. Many good and 

 valuable liives for this 

 purpose have been 

 constructed, and are 

 ^^jv.^ the subject of letters 

 patent, for the mami- 

 facture and use of 

 which a royalty is re- 

 quired by the owners 

 thereof. 



The hive shown in 

 connection with tliis ar- 

 ticle is, beyond ques- 

 tion, the simplest, 

 cheapest, and best ar- 

 ranged unpatented hive extant. Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the hive as 

 it appears upon the sand. In appearance it has a neat, unpretending look 

 of self- recommendation. 



The advantages gained by having a passage for the bees at the bottom, 

 and six inches upward therefrom, at one side of the hive, are: First. Dur- 

 ing winter snow and ice accumulate in sufficient quantities to entirely fill 

 and cover the lower series of liolos, while the upper ones remain open, ad- 

 mitting fresh air, the importance of whicli all apiarians are famiUar with. 

 SecmuL Bees alighting at the upper series of holes, upon returning from a 

 long and fatiguing flight, have but a short distance to traverse to reach t^Q 

 place where the accuuuilatcd sweets arc to bo deposited. 



BEE HIVE. — FIG. 1. 



