36 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION 



is well to have a shallow tray or basket in which to carry these 

 tools, some fuel, a couple of cans, one for propolis and the other 

 for bits of wax, pencil and record cards, queen introducing cages, 

 etc., at hand. 



Passing to the windward side of a hive, with the smoker going 

 well, the cover may be removed and stood down against the adjoin- 

 ing hive. Then pealing up one corner of the quilt, drive in just 

 enough smoke to start the bees down. One should always be careful 

 about placing anything, or standing, in front of the hive, as this 

 obstructs the way and confuses the incoming bees and also prevents 

 any bees that fly from the top from getting in again. For this same 

 reason the practice of first blowing smoke in the entrance is not to 

 be advised, though sometimes it becomes necessary. The smoker 

 can be stood down to windward so that as the smoke rises it will be 

 carried across the top of the hive keeping the bees down. Smoke 

 is used to alarm the bees and set them feeding on honey. When 

 filled with honey they become noticeably docile and can be handled 

 with much greater ease and comfort. 



Usually there will be more or less propolis on the top of the 

 frames which may now be removed while the bees are filling them- 

 selves. Also there are quite likely to be brace combs built between 

 the frames if the bees are gathering honey freely, and these may be 

 cut out. In loosening the frames care should be taken not to jar 

 the hive any more than necessary. In removing the first frame one 

 must work slowly and with care lest bees be crushed and the an- 

 ger of the colony aroused. In the eight frame hives there is room 

 for what is known as a division board, the use of which is to give 

 room to manipulate the frames upon its removal. In a good many 

 instances, unless the bees are worked with quite frequently, the 

 division board becomes so fastened that it is harder to remove than 

 one of the frames. In the larger sized hives provision is not made 

 for it. 



One of the disadvantages of the self-spacing frames is that no 

 working space can be had by shoving the frames together. One 

 frame, having been removed and stood on end at one side of the 

 hive, the others may be manipulated with ease. 



There are four positions found to be of practical value when 

 once learned, to facilitate the handling of frames of bees and honey. 

 The first position is that in which the frame is in the hands when 



