TURNOUTS. 107 



tliein out ; and for sixty years at least, my father and 

 his son have practised this mode of getting honey in great 

 quantity so early in the season. Such honey is super- 

 excellent, having been gathered chiefly from fruit and 

 sycamore trees, and commands a high price and ready sale. 

 AVe reckon Is. 3d. per lb. for run honey, and Is. 6d. for 

 honeycomb, a fair price. If there be only 20 lb. in a hive, 

 we drum the bees out of it into an empty one. In this 

 way 25s. worth of honey, and another swarm (the evicted 

 one), which we term " a turnout," are obtained from the 

 stock-hive, which has before yielded one or two swarms. 

 Thus we get two or three good swarms, and 20 or 30 lb. 

 of honey from a stock-hive. These turnouts are generally 

 a shade better than the second swarms from the same 

 hives ; and when no second swarms have been obtained 

 from the hives, the turnouts are very large swarms in- 

 deed, and require large hives. By practising this mode 

 of taking honey from stock-hives three weeks after swarm- 

 ing, the apiary contains hives that are filled with fresh 

 young combs, free from foul brood, and never over- 

 burdened with bee-bread. Then there is the encourage- 

 ment of profits already in the pocket, and two months of 

 sunmier yet to come. 



A hive should weigh 42 or 45 lb. weight to yield 20 

 lb. of honev . Sometimes we pass sentence against hives 

 of less weight, drum the bees out of them at the proper 

 time, and take the honey ; and sometimes, instead of tak- 

 ing their honey, after the bees have been driven out, we 

 place them in a dry room tiU. autumn ; and if we then 

 find it will be advantageous to keep them for stock, and 

 take the honey from heavier hives, they are refilled with 

 bees taken from honey-hives, and placed in the garden. 



The process of turning bees out is simply that of driv- 

 ing them into empty hives prepared for them. In the 

 case of artificial swarming, we drum but a few minutes ; 



