MY BEES. 141 



bees as usual and left them out in the snow for 

 the winter. 



In May following I increased my number of 

 hives to four by taking out half of the bees in 

 each of my two hives and putting them into 

 new hives. The process is too complicated for 

 description here ; every bee-book gives a de- 

 tailed account of how to do it. I succeeded 

 perfectly. From my two old hives came a 

 swarm apiece, both of which I succeeded in 

 catching. This gave me six hives. The third 

 year resulted in a harvest of 120 pounds in 

 boxes and 90 pounds in the frames. The result 

 was not so good as it might have been had I 

 watched the hives carefully enough to deter- 

 mine exactly when the frames ought to have 

 been emptied of their contents by the use of 

 an extractor. I have never taken the trouble to 

 get an extractor at all, preferring to work en- 

 tirely for box-honey. Also, I did not take out 

 my boxes as fast as they were filled, and this 

 had something to do with the work of the 

 bees, who do their best when starvation threat- 

 ens them. For the fourth year, inasmuch as 

 six hives were simply flooding me and my 

 neighbors with honey, I neglected to hive the 



