16 THE COTTAGE AND FARM BEE KEEPER. 



29th]. If bought about Lady day, [March 25th,] it should weigh at 

 least 16 lbs. of contents. A two-year-old stock should weigh a pound 

 or two more. 



When a swarm is to commence an apiary, let the hive in which it is 

 to be placed be sent some time previously to the bee keeper with 

 whom the purchaser is in treaty. It ought also to be located on its 

 destined stand in the apiary on the evening of the day on which it 

 issued from the parent hive. In the transport of a stock, (should such 

 be bought,) great care is requisite to prevent concussion, lest any of 

 the combs should break down. Where these are fresh, the danger, 

 of course, is greatest. They may be removed at any time between 

 Michaelmas and Lady day. The greater the distance from which a 

 stock is brought, the less chance there is of the bees wandering back to 

 their old haunts and there perishing. 



