136 PUTTrfTG ON AND TAKING OFF BOXES. 



which is needed in the hive to mature the brood. Also, 

 moisture may accumulate in them, causing mold to form 

 on the inside. Experience and judgment are necessary to 

 kiLow about what time boxes are needed. That they are 

 necessary, need not be argued at the present day. Bee- 

 keepers have generally abandoned the barbarous practice 

 of killing the bees to obtain the honey. Most of them 

 have learned that a good swarm will store sufficient honey 

 for winter, besides several dollars' worth of surplus. Here 

 is where the patent-vender has taken advantage of our ig- 

 norance, by pretending that no hive but his, ever obtained 

 siKh quantities of honey, and of such pure quality. It is 

 probable that a great many bee-keepers are unable to tell 

 precisely when the hive is full of honey ; it may be full of 

 bees, and not of honey, and they are thus uncertain when 

 to put on boxes. The best rule that I can give, is to put 

 them on when the bees begin to be crowded out. When 

 they are obtaining honey, a day or two before this, would 

 be just the right time. It should be remembered that 

 they do not always get honey when they begin to cluster 

 outside. This guide will do in place of a better one, 

 which only close observation and experience can give. 



You may discover whether they are obtaining honey by 

 attentively watching the cells next the glass in a glass hive. 

 If honey is being deposited there in abundance, it is quite 

 evident that the flowers are yielding it, and other stocks 

 are obtaining it also. ISTow is the time, if the hives 

 are full, to put on the boxes. Too much room might re- 

 tard the swarming a few days, but if the bees are crowded 

 outside, it indicates want of room, and the boxes can 

 make no difference. It is better to have one box well 

 filled, than two part full, as might be the case if the bees 

 were not numerous. The object of putting on boxes be- 

 fore swarming, is to employ a portion of the bees, that 

 otherwise would remain idly clustering outside for two or 



