128 PLANS FOR AVOIDING IT. 



easily obtain the honey of the hive-bees without de- 

 stroying these industrious insects, the practice of put- 

 ting them to death should still be continued. It is 

 both cruel to the bees and injurious to the honey. 

 The practice may easily be avoided ; for a very simple 

 contrivance is sufficient for the purpose. Some hives, 

 which I have seen in the garden of a friend, had a 

 few inches taken horizontally off their summit ; over 

 this aperture, a board was fitted, with holes for the 

 passage of the bees, and a tin slide to close these 

 holes when necessary. Above this, a small hive was 

 placed : this, which coidd be removed at pleasure, 

 was filled by the bees with honey of the finest kind, 

 and the lower hive contained their winter store, and 

 their youthful progeny. 



Boxes of various kinds, for the same humane 

 object, have been invented, and are described in 

 various works. The neatest I have seen are those 

 belonging to my friend, Thomas Jackson, Esq., of 

 this town, one of the architects under whose super- 

 intendence our Museum was erected. A small room 

 in the back part of his dwelling-house was appro- 

 priated to his bees, who entered the boxes prepared 

 for their reception by a covered passage, communi- 

 cating with the external air by means of an aperture 

 cut in a pane of glass for their reception. Outside 

 of the window was a board, on which they alighted 



