]54 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



40 hives in a row. At the middle is a shady place to sit. A 

 clock or watch lies in open sight so that a look at every hive 

 may be taken once in five minutes. If there is no time-piece to 

 go by, the watcher may become interested in something else, and 

 think the five minutes not up when double that time has passed ; 

 but having the time measured out, he is free to read or do any 

 thing else between times. At each five minutes, the watcher, 

 who is sitting at the middle of the middle row, rises, glances 

 along the back row to the north end; then along the middle row 

 to the north end; then, stepping forward, glances along the 

 front row to the north end; then along the same row to the 

 south end; then to the south end of the middle row; and lastly 

 to the south end of the back row. All this has taken less time 

 than it takes to write it, and the watcher is ready to sit down 

 till another five minutes is up. 



If, however, unusual commotion is seen — and, sighting 

 along the rows in this way, it can easily be seen — the watcher 

 goes to the hive for a closer look. Up to the middle of the day 

 or later, there is not often much excitement, unless there be a 

 swarm; but after this time so many colonies take their play- 

 spells that the watcher needs to spend most of his time on his 

 feet. 



ONE-CENT CAGES. 



The watcher is provided with a number of queen-cages. 

 These are easily made and the material costs less than a cent 

 apiece. I take a pine block, 5 x 1 x V2-inch, and wrap around it 

 a piece of wire cloth 4 inches square. The wire cloth is allowed 

 to project at one end of the block a half-inch. The four side.'; 

 of this projecting end are bent down upon the end of the stick 

 and hammered down tight into place. A piece of fine wire 

 about 10 inches long is wrapped around the wire cloth, about 

 an inch from the open end, which will be about the middle of 

 the stick, and the ends of the wire twisted together. I then 

 pull out the block, trim off the corners of the end a little so that 

 it will easily enter the cage, slide the stick in and out of the 

 cage a number of times so that it will work easily, and the 

 thing is complete (Fig. 65). When not in use, the block is 

 pushed clear in, so as to preserve the shape of the cage. Such 



