138 



THE BEE -HIVES. 



8. It should allow the bottom board to be loosened or fas- 

 tened at will, for ventilation, or to clear out the dead bees 

 in Winter. If suffered to remain, they often become mouldy, 

 and injure the health of the colony. In dragging them out, 

 when the weather moderates, the bees often fall with them on 

 the snow, and are so chilled, that they never rise again; for 

 a bee, in flying away with the dead, frequently retains its hold 

 until both fall to the ground. 



9. No part of the interior of the hive should be below the 

 level of the place of exit. 



If this principle is violated, the bees must, at great disad- 

 vantage, drag, up hill, their dead, and all the refuse of the 

 hive. 



10. It should afford facilities for feeding bees, both in 

 warm and cool weather, in case of need. 



11. It should furnish facilities for enlarging, contracting, 

 and closing the entrance, to protect the bees against robbers; 

 and when the entrance is altered, the bees ought not, as in 

 some hives, to lose valuable time in searching for it. 



12. It should furnish facilities for admitting at once a 

 large body of air, that the bees may be tempted to fly out 

 and discharge their fcBces, on warm days in Winter, or early 

 Spring. 



If such a free admission of air cannot be given, the bees, 

 by losing a favorable opportunity of emptying themselves, 

 may suffer from diseases resulting from too long confine- 

 ment. 



13. It should allow the bees, together with the heat and 

 odor of the main hive, to pass in the freest manner, to the 

 surplus honey receptacles. 



14. Each of the parts of every hive in an apiary should 

 be so made, as to be interchangeable from one hive to an- 

 other. In this wa}', the Apiarist can readily make the ex- 

 changes of brood, honey, or pollen, which circumstances de- 

 mand. 



15. The hive should" permit the surplus honey to be taken 

 away in the most convenient, beautiful and salable forms. 



