FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 209 



best being continued at it, and these are not allowed to 

 have any other supers. Generally two supers at a time 

 will be enough for a colony to have ; but sometimes three 

 will be given. As fast as one super is ready to come off 

 another takes its place. 



ROBBER-CLOTH. 



Before fulfilling my promise to describe the tent- 

 escape, I must describe a robber-cloth (Fig. 75), which 



Fig, 71. — Hhop (looking South). 



forms an essential part of the tent-escape. I take a piece 

 of stout cotton cloth (sheeting) large enough to cover a 

 hive and hang down four inches or more at both sides 

 and at each end. This must be weighted down at the 

 side with lath, and for this purpose I take four pieces 

 of lath about as long as the hive. I lay down One piece 

 of lath with another piece on it, and one edge of the 

 cloth between the two pieces of lath. I then nail the two 



