OF MANAGING BEES. 41 



blinds so as to darken one of the rooms in the dwelling-house ; 

 raise up one casement of a window ; then carry the drawer 

 and place the same on a table, or stand, by the window, on 

 its light or glass end, with the apertures towards the light. 

 Now rernove the slide, and step immediately back into the 

 dark part of the room, or carry them into the cellar and let 

 them fly out through the window. The bees will soon learn 

 their true condition, and will gradually leave the drawer and 

 return home to the parent stock, thus leaving the drawer and 

 its contents for their owner ; not, however, until they have 

 sucked every drop of running honey, if there should chance 

 to be any, which is not often the case, if their work is finish- 

 ed. In case honey is to be removed at a time when the bees 

 will be likely to carry it back to the parent hive Ifgain, set 

 the drawer on the ground. Now place an empty barrel, 

 with one head out, over it, with a hole in the head that is as 

 large as a bung. This darkens the interior of the barrel, so 

 that the bees are unable to return to the drawer. 



There are two cases in which the bees manifest some 

 reluctance in leaving the drawer. The first is, when the 

 comb is in an unfinished state, some of the cells not ceiled 

 over. The bees manifest a great desire to remain there, 

 probably to make their stores more secure from robbers, by 

 affixing caps to the uncovered cells, to prevent the effluvia 

 of running honey, which is always the greatest temptation to 

 robbers. » 



Bees manifest the greatest reluctance in leaving the drawer 

 when young broods are removed in it, which does not often 

 occur-, except in such drawers as have been used for feeding 

 in the winter or early in the -spring. When the queen has 

 deposited eggs in ali the empty cells below, she sometimes 

 enters the drawers ; and if any empty cells are found, she 

 deposits eggs also. In either case it is better to return 

 4* 



