152 MODERN BEEHIVES. [Ch. hi. 



and from symptoms at the entrance, that the original 

 boxes are well filled, place your prepared honey-box on 

 the top, draw a slide at each side of the middle box to 

 aiford communication, and insert the little pegs. It is 

 not well to withdraw the slides in the middle, because 

 the queen is then far more likely to ascend. Bees may 

 more readily be induced to work in the supers if the 

 junctures are covered with gummed paper to preserve 

 warmth. When you notice that the bees have fairly 

 commenced work in the honey-box, and are likely to keep 

 to it, a second and afterwards other supers may still be 

 added, the new one being always placed uppermost ; in 

 all cases the remaining box c must be added below 

 the stock, which will afford additional room and pre- 

 vent swarming, exchanging the entrance to the newly- 

 furnished box and sliding in pieces of wood to close the 

 aperture of that above. Supers and nadirs may in fact 

 be added — in fine seasons and with first-rate management 

 — till there are eight or ten boxes in the pile. 



Should the bees begin making comb in the bottom 

 box, draw two more slides for freer access into the super, 

 as there will then be little risk of the queen ascending, 

 having so much range for egg-laying in the three lower 

 boxes. 



In very fine weather a good swarm or stock will fill a 

 honey-box in the space of two weeks ; but a much longer 

 time is usually occupied. The process of taking the 

 honey differs very little from that ordinarily followed in 



