PUTTING ON AND TAKING OFF BOXES. 179 



MANNER of' DISPOSING OF THE BEES IN THE BOXES. 



Arouse the bees by striking the box lightly four or 

 • five times. If all the cells are finished, land honey is 

 still obtained, turn the box bottom up, near the hive 

 from which it was taken, so that the bees can enter it 

 without flying; by this means you can save several 

 young bees, that have never left the hive and marked 

 the location, and a few others too weak to fly, but will 

 follow the others into the hive; (such are lost when 

 we are obliged to carry them at a distance.) Boxes 

 can be taken off either in the morning or evening; if 

 in the morning, it may stand several hours when the 

 sun is not too hot, but on no account let it stand in 

 the sun in the middle of the day, as the combs will ' 

 melt. The bees will all l.eave, sometimes in an hour ; 

 at others they will not be out in three. They may be 

 taken off at evening and stand till morning, in fair 

 weather ; if not too cool, they are generally all out ; " 

 but here is some risk of the nloth finding it and' de- 

 positing her eggs; perhaps one in fifty may be thus 

 found. 



BEES DISPOSED TO CARRY AWAY HONEY. 



When boxes are taJ^fri off at the end of the honey 

 season, a different niethod of getting^rid of the bees 

 must be adopted, ot we lose our honey. Unless the 

 combs are all finished, we lose some then any way, as 

 most of the bees fill themselves b^re leaving ; they 

 carry it home and return for more immediately, and 

 take it all, if not prevented. It has been recom- 

 mended to take it to some dark room with a small 



