68 PROFITABLE BEE-KEEPING 
drawn over the frames as the bottom quilt is 
peeled off. In a minute or so remove it, only 
using it further when the bees show signs of in- 
subordination. a 
When the spring examination is made, and it 
should be made on a warm day towards the end 
of April, a clean hive must be given to each colony, 
afterwards scraping out the old hives and wash- 
ing with strong soda and water applied very. hot. 
In examining straw skeps, the combs being 
fixed, their removal is out of the question. All 
that can be done is to blow a little smoke in at 
the entrance and then invert the skep. The combs 
may be prised apart with the fingers, when the 
presence of worker brood will indicate that the 
skep contains a fertile queen. Nothing further - 
however, can be done as regards examination, and 
often the weight is no very correct guide to the 
‘amount of stores contained, as pollen-clogged 
combs may account for much of it. 
In manipulating bees it will be seen that their 
temper varies a great deal. They are much 
quieter at some times of the year than they are 
at others, and they are easier to handle on warm 
days than they are on cool ones. It is unwise to 
examine them late in the evening, and the best 
time of all is in the middle of a warm day, when 
~honey is coming in. It will be found also that 
they are especially irritable at the close of a 
honey flow, say at the end of July and August, 
when great care is needed in handling them. 
