BEES. 



that he has in some summers taken two 

 boxes filled with honey from one colony, 

 and yet sufficient store has been left for 

 their maintenance during the winter, each 

 box weighing 40 pounds. His boxes are 

 made of deal, and an octagon, being near- 

 er to a sphere, is better than a square 

 form ; for as the bees, in winter, lie in a 

 round body near the centre of the hive, 

 a due heat is then conveyed to all the out- 

 parts. The dimensions which Mr. Thor- 

 ley, after many years experience, recom- 

 mends, for the boxes, are 10 inches in 

 depth, and 12 or 14 inches in breadth in 

 the inside. 



The best and purest honey is that 

 which is gathered in the first five or six 

 weeks: and in boxes of less dimensions, 

 we may take within a month, provided the 

 season be favourable, a boxful of the finest 

 honey. The top of the box should be 

 made of an entire board, a full inch thick 

 after it has been planed, and it should 

 project on all sides, at least an inch be- 

 yond the dimensions of the box. In the 

 middle of this top there must be a hole 

 five inches square, for a communication 

 between the boxes ; this hole should be 

 covered with a sliding shutter, of deal or 

 elm, running easily in a groove over the 

 back window. The eight pannels, nine 

 inches deep, and three quarters of an 

 inch thick when planed, are to be let into 

 the top, so far as to keep them in their 

 proper places, to be secured at the cor- 

 ners with plates of brass, and to be cramp- 

 ed with wires at the bottom, to keep them 

 firm; for the heat in summer will try 

 their strength. There should be a glass 

 window behind, fixed in a frame, with a 

 thin deal cover, two small brass hinges, 

 and a button to fasten it. This window 

 will be sufficient for inspecting the pro- 

 gress of the bees. Two brass handles, one 

 on each side, are necessary to lift up the 

 box ; these should be fixed in with two 

 thin plates of iron, near three inches long, 

 so as to turn up and down, and put three 

 inches below the top board, which is nail- 

 ed close down with sprigs to the other 

 parts of the box. Those who choose a 

 frame within, to which the bees may fas- 

 ten their combs, need only use a couple 

 of deal sticks, of an inch square, placed 

 across the box. One thing more, which 

 perfects the work, is a passage four or 

 five inches long, and less than half an 

 inch deep, for the bees to go in and out 

 at the bottom of the box. In keeping 

 bees in colonies, a house is necessary, or 

 at least a shade ; without which the wea- 

 ther, especially the heat of the sun, would 



soon rend the boxes to pieces. The 

 house may be made of any boards, but 

 deal is the best; and it must be painted, 

 to secure it from the weather. The 

 length of it, for six colonies, should be 

 full twelve and a half feet, and each co- 

 lony should stand a foot distant from the 

 other. It should be three and a half 

 feet high, to admit four boxes one upon 

 another ; but if only three boxes are em- 

 ployed, two feet eight inches will be suf- 

 ficient. Its breadth in the inside should 

 be two feet. The best time to plant the 

 colonies is, either in spring, with new 

 stocks full of bees, or in summer, with 

 swarms. If swarms are used, procure if 

 possible two of the same day ; hive them 

 either in two boxes, or in a hive and a box; 

 at night place them in the bee-house, one 

 over the other, and with a knife and a lit- 

 tle lime and hair stop close the mouth of 

 the hive or upper box, so that not a bee 

 may be able to go in or out but at the 

 front door. Within a week or ten days, 

 the combs will appear in the boxes ; but 

 if it be a hive, nothing can be seen till 

 the bees have wrought down into the box. 

 Never plant a colony with a single swarm. 

 When the second box. or the box under 

 the hive, appears full of bees and combs, 

 it is time to raise the colony. This should 

 be done in the dusk of the evening, and 

 in the following manner. 



Place the empty box, with the sliding 

 shutter drawn back, behind the house, 

 near the colony that is to be raised, and 

 at nearly the height of the floor : then 

 lifting up the colony as quickly as possible, 

 let the empty box be put into the place 

 where it is to stand, and the colony upon 

 it ; and shut up the mouth of the then 

 upper box with lime and hair, as directed 

 before. When, upon looking through the 

 windows in the back of the boxes, the 

 middle box appears full of combs, and a 

 quantity of honey sealed up in it, the low- 

 est box half full of combs, and few bees 

 in the uppermost box, proceed thus : 

 About five o'clock in the evening, drive 

 close with the mallet the sliding shutter 

 under the hive or box that is to be ta- 

 ken from the colony. If the combs are 

 new, the shutter may be forced home 

 without a mallet ; but be sure it is close, 

 that no bees may ascend into the hive or 

 box to be removed. After this, shut 

 close the doors of the house, and leave 

 the bees, thus cut off from the rest of 

 their companions, for half an hour or 

 more. In this space, having lost their 

 queen, they will fill themselves with ho- 

 ney, and be impatient to be set at liberty.; 



