300 THE BEE keeper's MANUAL. 



undoubtedly contains a vigorous population. The hive 

 should be removed at an hour when the bees are all at home. 

 It may be gently inverted, and a coarse towel placed over 

 it, and then tacked fast, when the bees are shut in. Have 

 a steady horse, and before you start, be very sure that it is 

 impossible for any bees to get out. Place the hive on some 

 straw, in a wagon that has easy springs, and the bees will have 

 plenty of air, and the combs, from the inverted position of 

 the hive, will not be so liable to be jarred loose. Never 

 purchase a hive which contains much comb just built ; for 

 it will be next to impossible to move it, in warm weather, 

 without loosening the new combs. If a new swarm is pur- 

 chased, it may be brought home as follows. Furnish the 

 person on whose premises it is to be hived, with a box hold- 

 ing at the very least, a cubic foot of clear contents. Let 

 the^bottom-board of this temporary hive be clamped on both 

 ends, the clamps being about two inches wider than the 

 thickness of the board, so that when the hive is set on the 

 bottom-board, it will slip in between the upper projections of 

 the clamps, and be kept an inch from the ground, by the lower 

 ones, so that air may pass under it. There should be a 

 hole in the bottom-board, about four inches in diameter, and 

 two of the same size in the opposite sides of the box, cov- 

 ered with wire gauze, so that the bees may have an abund- 

 ance of air, when they are shut up. Three parallel strips, 

 an inch and a half wide, should be nailed, about one third 

 of the way from the top of the temporary hive, at equal dis- 

 tances apart, so that the bees may have every opportunity to 

 cluster ; a few pieces of old comb, fastened strongly in the 

 top with melted rosin, will make the bees like it all the bet- 

 ter. A handle made of a strip of leather, should be nailed 

 on the top. Let the bees be hived in this box, and kept well 

 shaded ; at evening, or very early next morning, the tern- 



