TBAHSPOKTINQ BEES. 871 



elliptic springs. But a Wagon without springs is bad, 

 especially for young stocks. Yet I have known them 

 moved safely in this way, but it required some care 

 in packing with hay, or stravV, under and around them, 

 and careful driving. Good sleighing will answer very 

 well, and by some thought to be the best time. 



HIVE TO BE INVERTED. 



Whatever conveyance is employed, the hive should 

 be inverted. The combs will then all rest closely on 

 the top, and are less liable to break than when right 

 end up, because then the whole weight of the combs 

 must depend upon the fastenings at the top and sides 

 for support, and are easily detached and fall. When 

 moving bees, so reversed, they will creep upward ; in 

 stocks part full, they will often nearly all leave the 

 combs, and get upon the covering. In a short time 

 after being set up, they will return, except' in very 

 cold weather, when a few will sometimes freeze ; con- 

 sequently a warm room is required to put them in for 

 a short time. 



After carrying them a few miles, the disposition to 

 sting is .generally gone, yet there are a few excep- 

 tions. In moderate weather, when bees are confined, 

 they manifest a persevering determination to find their 

 way out, particularly after being moved, and some- 

 what disturbed. I have known them to bite hc^es 

 through muslin in three days. The same difficulty is 

 often attendant on attempting to confine them to the 

 hive by muslin when in the house in the winter, 

 eycept when kept in a cold situation. Should any 



