^8 THE APIARY. 



in no way discoloured by brood. The queen requires a 

 considerable degree of warmth; the middle box does 

 not require more ventilation than the additional openings 

 afford. The bees enjoy coolness in the side boxes, and 

 thereby the whiteness and purity of the luscious store are 

 increased. 



After the foregoing directions for the working of the 

 hive, it remains to be told how to obtain possession of 

 the store, and to get rid of our industrious tenants from 

 the super and end boxes, of which the super glass will 

 be almost sure to be filled first, having been first given to 

 them. The operation of taking honey is best performed 

 in the middle of a fine sunny day. The mode we prefer 

 is as follows : — Pass an ordinary table-knife all round 

 underneath the rim of the glass, to loosen the cement, 

 properly called propolis ; then take a piece of fine wire, 

 or a piece of string will do, and, having hold of the two 

 ends, draw it under the glass very slowly, so as to allow 

 the bees to get out of the way. Having brought the 

 string through, the glass is now separated from the hive ; 

 but it is as well to leave the glass in its place for an hour 

 or so ; the commotion of the bees will then have subsided : 

 and another advantage we find is, that the bees suck up 

 the liquid and seal up the cells broken by the cutting off. 

 You can then pass underneath the glass two pieces of 

 tin or zinc ; the one may be the proper slide to prevent 

 the inmates of the hive coming out at the apertures, the 

 other tin keeps all the bees in the glass close prisoners. 



