282 THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 



thickness, one-eighth of an inch air-space will be left all 

 around the hive, which, with the other ventilators, will 

 give air enough. If an old stock, in hot weather, is to 

 be moved any distance in such a hive, it will be advisable 

 to fasten wire-cloth in front of the portico, so that the bees 

 can leave their combs (p. 91) and cluster there. Hives 

 with movable frames should be arranged in such a posi- 

 tion that the frames run from front to rear, and not from 

 side to side, in the carriage. My glass hives ought never 

 to be sent off for swarms. 



Inexperienced persons will seldom find it profitable to 

 begin bee-keeping on a large scale. By using movable- 

 comb hives, they can rapidly increase then- stocks after 

 they have acquired skill, and have ascertained, not simply 

 that money can be made by keeping bees, but that they 

 can make it. While large profits can be realized by care- 

 ful and experienced bee-keepers, those who are otherwise 

 will be almost sure to find their outlay result only in 

 vexatious losses. An Apiary neglected or mismanaged is 

 worse than a farm overgrown with weeds or exhausted 

 by ignorant tillage ; for the land, by prudent management, 

 may again be made fertile, but the bees, when once 

 destroyed, are a total loss. 



TRANSFERRING BEES FROM COMMON TO MOVABLE-COMB 

 HIVES. 



This process may be easily effected whenever the 

 weather is warm enough for bees to fly.* It is conducted 

 as follows: Drive the bees into a forcing-box (p. 354), 

 which put on their old stand, and carry the parent-hive to 

 some place where you cannot be annoyed by other bees. 

 Have on hand tools for prying off a side of the hive ; a 



* It has frequently been done, in Winter, for purposes of experiment, by remov 

 ing the bees into a warm room. 



