28 THE COTTAGE AND FARM BEE KEEPER. 



it, large or small, according to circumstances, which I prefer greatly 

 to the piling of supers one over the other. 



The next matter, which will claim the attention of the cottager, will 

 be the removal of the honeyful cap or glass whenever that happy cir- 

 cumstance is ascertained, which may be known by seeing most of the ' 

 cells that are visible ceiled in with a waxen lid. As soon as this is 

 certainly known — if the glass or cap seems ready for spoliation on or 

 before the 7th of July — another smaller glass or cap may be substitu- 

 ted for it. After that date, it will be advisable to suffer the bees to fill 

 their empty store room in the hive below. The bee master need not 

 regret the transfer of the honey that may be collected after that time 

 from himself to his bees, as after the middle of July what honey is 

 collected is generally poor, and has often a peculiar flavor, far from 

 agreeable. While, however, this honey will be of little value to him- 

 self, it is good enough for his bees, and a treasure to them. 



The removal of a glass or cap, and the substitution of another in its 

 place, is not a matter of much difficulty. The best time for perform- 

 ing the operation is towards the brightest part of a fine day, when 

 most of the bees are luxuriating in the fields. This usually occurs 

 about one or two o'clock, p.m. The apiator should be carefully armed 

 against the possibility of being stung, as bees are often greatly en- 

 raged, especially if their hive receive any blow or jar in the event of 

 the operation being awkwardly performed. The actual removal of the 

 glass is an easy matter. It is not from the bees who may happen to 

 be in the glass, or at the hole in the top, that an attack is to be appre- 

 hended ; the sudden admission of light at an unguarded point, where ■ 

 an invasion is least expected by them, seems so greatly to confound 

 them, that they never attempt to fly, except they are breathed upon ; 

 this makes it very easy to remove a glass in a bee house, where the in- 

 and-out-flying bees cannot annoy. 



A favorable opportunity having presented itself, let the bee master 

 proceed to his apiary with a fresh glass in his hand, a plate or dish 

 large enough to hold the full one, a stout piece of thread, and a knife 

 or spatula. After gently removing the hackle and covering hive, 

 the knife must be passed round the edges of the cap or glass so as to 

 break the propolis which makes it adhere to the hive top. Next let 

 him pass the string, holding it with both hands, under the glass, to 

 sever the comb above from its attachments below — for it has generally 



