TRANSFERRING BEES. 125 



then set them on the stand ;ind give them their 

 liberty. Keeping them shut up for the time 

 named, gives them a chance to take up the hone}' 

 which runs from the transferred combs, and which 

 might, if the bees were carried immediately to the 

 stand, incite robbing. 



Transferring is by no means so formidable an op- 

 eration as at first appears. I have transferred a 

 ver}- large number of swarms from the old box 

 hives, without protection for hands or face, and now 

 the bees seldom show any disposition to sting. Yet 

 I would advise beginners to protect themselves, until 

 h}- practice they become familiar with the work. 

 '■'Practice makes perfect" is an old and true saying, 

 and it applies to all operations with bees, I assure 

 you. In my first attempts at this work I thought I 

 must be protected, and I would not for the world 

 proceed without a protector, and that of the most 

 invulnerable kind. Now, having had much prac- 

 tice, I feel no necessity for any covering whatever. 

 I trust I have made my method of tranferring per- 

 fectly plain, so that all who wish may avail them- 

 selves of its advantages. 



