LOSS OF THK QUEEN. 221 



they usually give reliable evidence either that all is well, 

 or that ruin lurks within, if their first flight is not noticed, 

 it is sometimes difficult, hi the common hives, to get at 

 the truth. If the bees are driven up among the combs, 

 by smoke, the presence or absence of brood may often be 

 ascertained. If a few imperfect bees are found on the 

 bottom-board, or in front of the entrance, it shows that 

 te hive has a fertile queen. 



I strongly advise giving every movable-comb hive a 

 thorough examination, as soon as the bees begin to work 

 in the Spring.* The combs, with the adhering bees, may 

 be put into a clean hive, and the old one, after being 

 cleansed from everything offensive to the delicate senses 

 of the bees, may be given to another stock. 



In making this thorough cleansing of his hives, the 

 Apiarian will learn which require aid, and which can lend 

 a helping hand to others ; and any one needing repairs, 

 may be put in order before being used again. Such hives, 

 if occasionally re-painted, will last for generations, and 

 prove cheaper, in the long run, than any other kind. 



If, in the Spring examination, a hive has no queen, it 

 should be supplied, if populous, with one from a weaker 

 stock. If it is small, comb, with hatching bees,f should 

 be given to it from a stronger colony. Or it may change 



* I would refer those, who think that " it is too much trouble" to examine their 

 hives in the Spring, to the practice of the ancient bee-keepers, as set forth by 

 Columella : " The hives should be opened in the Spring, that all the filth which 

 was gathered in them during the Winter may be removed. Spiders, which spoil 

 their combs, and the worms from which the moths proceed, must be killed. When 

 the hive has been thns cleaned, the bees will apply themselves to work with the 

 greater diligence and resolution." The sooner those abandon bee-keeping, who 

 consider the proper care of their bees as "too much trouble," the better for them- 

 selves and their unfortunate bees. 



t That class of bee-keepers who suppose that all such operations are the " new- 

 fangled " inventions of modern times, will be surprised to learn that Columella, 

 1800 years ago, recommended strengthening feeble stocks, by cutting out combs 

 from stronger colonies, containing workers "just gnawing out of their cells." 



