126 A MANUAL OF BEE-KEEPING. 



be left in the hive ; there is Httle to be gained by working 

 very close, and should the honey season suddenly close, 

 there is danger of the Bees starving, as we have known 

 them to do, even in July. 



" If your hives are kept close' to the ground, and no 

 weeds allowed to grow around the entrances, there is 

 very little danger of losing Queens while extracting, yet 

 it is a very good plan to keep them carefully in mind, 

 and if you should not see them, we think it a little 

 safer to shake the combs that contain much brood, so 

 that the Bees fall directly into the hive. 



" After the honey is taken" from one side of the comb it 

 is, of course, to be turned, and the honey taken from the 

 other side. When the combs are very heavy and the 

 honey very thick, it may be best to throw it out only 

 partially the first time, and then reverse, to avoid crushing 

 the combs into the wire cloth by the great centrifugal 

 force resulting from such a weight moving at a rapid 

 speed." 



QUEEN CAGES. 



Bees, on losing or being deprived of their Queen, will 

 not with any certainty accept a stranger without some 

 precaution ; on the contrary, will often slay her forth- 

 with ; but it is found in practice that if a Queen be 

 confined some twenty-four or more hours amongst the 

 Workers the regicidal tendency abates, and love and 

 reverence succeed to hatred, if the Queen be in a fertile 

 condition. An infertile Queen is not readily accepted, 

 instinct seemingly acquainting the Bees that she is 

 useless. The prudent Bee-master, therefore never intro- 

 duces a new Ligurian, or other Queen, without tem- 



