FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES Jl 



of forgetting it. One may forgel it at an out-apiary, and then 

 have to make a special trip to get it. I've done that. , 



SPRING OVERHAULING. 



After the bees are hauled to the out-apiaries, I ana ready 

 for the spring o\erhauling as soon as the weather is right for it. 

 I do not want to open up the-hi\es except at a time when it is 

 warm enough for bees to fly freely. Too much danger of chill- 

 ing the brood. Sometimes there may come one good day followed 

 by a week of weather too bad for bees to fly. So I may com- 

 mence overhauling in April, and perhaps not till in May ; and 

 if I do commence in April I may not get all done till well on in 

 May. 



IITVE-SKVT. 



Having due regard for my own comfort, I want a seat when 

 I work at a hive. Mr. Doolittle once tried to poke fun at me in 

 convention, because I accidentally admitted that I sat down to 

 work at bees. If I were obliged to work all the season without 

 a seat, I am afraid I would have to give up tin; business from 

 exhaustion. Moreover, if I had the streiii;th ul' a Samson I don't 

 think I should waste it stooping over hives, so long as I could 

 get a seat. I generally have three or four seats about the apiary, 

 and they may not all be of the same kind. A common glass-box 

 is more used than any other. To make it convenient for carry- 

 ing, a strap of leather or cloth may be nailed to two diagonally 

 opposite corners on the bottom. Or the cover may be nailed on 

 the box with a hand-hole in the middle. The box being of three 

 different dimensions, one has a choice as to height of seat. It is 

 a little curious to know what a difference there is in this lespect 

 as to the preferences of different persons. My assistant never 

 uses the highest seat the box affords, while I never use the lowest. 



Fig. 18 shows a hive-seat with a strap-handle, the kind I 

 prefer; Fig. 19 shows one with hand-hole, which my assistant 

 prefers. 



A DIGRESSION. 



Perhaps I ought to digress a little, and tell you about my 

 lielp. Years ago, my wife, her sister Emma, and sometimes my 



