FORTY YEARS AMONG THE P.EES. 



49 



have never been opened since coming liome, unless they 

 were so Hght as to need feeding. If things were always 

 done just right, there never would be any opened because 

 suspiciously light; but things are not always done just 

 . right. 



ENTRANCE-CLOSERS. 



The entrance is of course closed with wire-cloth, and 

 after trying a good many entrance-closers I have settled 

 down upon the simplest of all. It is a piece of wire-cloth 

 just large enough to close the 123.-^ entrance and pro- 

 ject an inch or so up on the front of the hive. To make 

 the edges at the bottom and at the two ends more firm, 

 and to prevent them from raveling, the wire-cloth is cut 

 about 13^x4, and about % of an inch folded over at the 

 bottom and at each end. These edges are folded over the 



Fig. 15. — Sack for Mauling Bees. 



blade of a saw. When finished, the closer is 12^ inches 

 long or a trifle less, so it will easily fit in the bottom- 



