144 MINER S AMERICAN 



but we shall meet with this damper to our fond hopes, — 

 an ordinary swarm will not in one case in ten, go be- 

 yond the first box, during the first season, if they mea- 

 sure about nine inches by twelve. If they be smaller 

 than this, they will ascend to upper ones; but there is 

 ruin in hives under the above-named size, in the sequel, 

 as I think I shall fully show. 



In speaking of swarms entering supers or boxes above 

 the one in which they are hived during the first season, 

 and working therein, I would observe, that in different 

 parts of the country, the labors of bees vary accord- 

 ing to the bee-pasturage about them. In a location 

 where the white clover {Trifolium repens) abounds pro- 

 fusely, as in Herkimer county, State of New York, and 

 some other great grazing counties, a swarm will produce 

 much more honey and wax, than on Long Island, where 

 the honey harvest is not so abundant. 



We now return to our " subtended " hive ; and we 

 will suppose that three years have past, and we now 

 wish to change our stock or family, into a new tene- 

 ment, the old combs having existed long enough ; an- 

 other year, however, would not affect the prosperity of 

 the bees, according to my experience. 



Well, how is this change or transfer to be made ? In 

 the first place, you remove the box containing the bees 

 far enough to admit of an empty one to occupy its posi- 

 tion. You then remove the slide of the empty one, and 

 set the/wZZ one over it. We will suppose that this ope- 

 ration is performed sometime during the month of April. 

 The bees soon begin to increase rapidly, and when the 



