BOXING AND SURPLUS HONEY. 1%5 
be likely to finish them. Many bee-keepers meet this 
emergency by feeding extracted honey of good quality 
very freely, thus stimulating the bees to renewed exer- 
tion. Directions on this point will be found in the Chap- 
ter on Feeding. 
One of the prime essentials in boxing is ease of access 
from the body of the hive. It is true, that when boxes 
are very accessible, the queen will at times enter them, 
and deposit eggs therein, yet the advantages of this prox- 
imity are so great that this objection is more than coun- 
terbalanced. Where but few brood-cells appear, they may 
be removed, but if nearly filled with brood, the boxes 
should be placed where the bees may hatch and enter the 
hive. The honey-board as mentioned in connection with 
the use of two-comb boxes should not be more than ‘/, 
in. thick. One reason why so little box-honey can be 
secured from box-hives, lies in the fact that the bees must 
pass through holes in the top of the hive, which is gen- 
erally an inch thick. 
REMOVING BOXES. 
All boxes should be promptly removed as soon as full. 
Thus the boxes will not be soiled, and the delicate white- 
ness of the combs will be unsullied by the frequent pass- 
ing of the bees over them. I prefer to perform the oper- 
ation in the middle of the day, for they then contain the 
fewest bees, but it may be done at any time. Place the 
box near the entrance of the hive, and tap it gently a few 
times, when the bees will usually all leave it. If any 
bees are indisposed to leave, and there are large numbers 
of boxes to be cared for, they may be arranged in a pile, 
so that all bees can escape, in a closed room, and a caged 
queen placed in a nucleus box among them, when they 
will all gather with the queen. In bringing home large 
quantities of box-honey from apiaries away from home, I 
have often in this manner preserved bees that lack of 
