76 BEE CULTURE, 
of the frame against the ball, or thick part of the hand, at 
the base of the thumb. As the frame strikes the hand, let 
the hands give a sudden downward motion, which makes the 
shock still greater. As the frame strikes the fingers again, 
it is thrown back against the hand, and so on till all, or nearly 
all, of the bees are off. The principle is that the bee is on 
her guard all the while to keep from falling off, thus holding 
on tenaciously so as not to be easily shaken off. By the 
sudden stopping of the upward, and a quick downward motion, 
the bees are thrown off their guard and dislodged from the 
comb. I do not remember of ever having broken a comb by 
shaking it, as above described. Now, if we disturb the Ital- 
jans, causing them to fill themselves with honey, they can 
then be shaken from the combs about as easily as black bees. 
But even if we cannot afford time to wait till they are filled 
with honey, four-fifths of them can be shaken off. To get off 
the remainder, I take a turkey or goose quill and trim down 
the feather edge about half on the wide side, and with this I 
have no trouble in getting off those remaining, without irri- 
tating them. Of course, it will appear a little awkward at 
first, but will soon be found easy enough.” 
PREPARING BEES FOR SHIPMENT. 
The best time for shipping bees any considerable distance, 
is in April, or quite early in May, before the combs are too 
heavy with brood; but with proper care in preparing them 
and ordinary usage in handling, they may be shipped at any 
time with comparative safety, except in quite cold weather. 
The first work is to go through the hives and extract about 
all the uncapped honey, as the least daubing will prove fatal 
to the bees ; then procure a block one inch square, and as long 
as the hive is wide, in this cut notches and tack in the bottom 
of the hive, in which to place the frames to keep them steady; 
now select the new combs and those heavy with brood or 
sealed honey, secure them well in the frames with .strip- 
binders, and place in the hive; tack the ends of the frames 
firmly to the rabbets on which they rest ; dip the blanket in 
clean water, lightly wring, fold about six thicknesses, and lay 
on the front ends of the frames. If the hive has no portico, 
leave oft the cover, and use wire cloth instead, nailing on top 
