50 FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 



board. The closer is put in place, a piece of lath 17,14 

 inches longf is pushed up ag'ainst it, and fastened by a nail 

 in the middle of the lath. Then to make it more secure, 

 a nail at each end is placed perpendicularly against the 

 lath and driven a short distance into the outer rim of the 

 bottom-board. The three nails used to fasten the lath 

 are finishing or wire casing nails 23/2 inches long or 

 longer. Being so long and not driven in very deep, one 

 can generally pull them out with the fingers. 



At Fig. 16, in the middle of the cut, will be seen an 

 entrance-closer, above it being the lath to fasten the 

 closer in place. 



Before the hives are put on the wagon I make 

 sure there is no possible leak in any of them. This is 

 hardly necessary where everything is in good condition, 

 but some of my covers and bottom-boards are pretty old, 

 and I must plug up any hole that would possibly allow a 

 bee to escape. 



When the hives are placed on their stands in the out- 

 apiary, the entrance-closers are removed, a little smoke 

 being used if the bees appear belligerent. Then the en- 

 trances are closed with the entrance-blocks. 



NUMBERING HIVES. 



Numbers for hives are made in this way : Pieces 

 of tin 4.x2j/^ inches have a small hole punched in each one, 

 near the edge, about midway of one of the longer sides. 

 With yi inch wire nails, nail them on the top of a wooden 

 hive-cover or other plane surface. Then give them a 

 couple of coats of white paint, and, when dry, put the 

 numbers on them, from i upward, with black paint. 

 There is room to make figures large enough to be seen 

 distinctly at quite a distance. These tin tags are fas- 

 tened on the fronts of the hives with ^i or inch wire- 

 nails driven in not very deep, making it easy to change 

 them at any time from one hive to another. 



