146 A Modern Bee- Farm 



the pound, and four or five pounds would give a good working 

 swarm. The plan of offering swarms containing so many thousand 

 bees, when in reality not more than a third of the number make 

 up the swarm forwarded, is becoming a thing of the past, and I 

 do not suppose many would be caught in the trap now ; never- 

 theless swarms of no guaranteed weight are still advertised, and 

 it is time bee-keepers set their faces against the practice. 



Weighing Bees. 



Where natural or other swarms are weighed after clustering 

 inside the travelling box, they can be first secured and carried to 

 the scales, and the weight marked upon the label. If they have 

 to go a long journey, either place a feeding bottle over the zinc 

 until starting, or see that a frame with sufficient sealed stores is 

 securely fixed in before the swarm is hived ; the weight of such 

 comb and the box to be noted, and presently deducted from the 

 gross weight. 



Where a definite quantity is ordered, the scales are to be 

 carried to the hive by any convenient arrangement that provides 

 correct balance; take the weight of the package, and if the 

 opening is not wide enough to admit a comb end-way, use a 

 funnel lined with zinc. Now make sure of the queen and then 

 shake from the combs the necessary quantity of bees, and insert 

 the queen last of all ; close at once and pack for the journey. 



They are to be first smoked in the usual way, and all the 

 time they do not miss the queen, the bulk of the bees shot into 

 the box will remain simply clustering on the sides. The operation 

 should take place in early morning or towards evening as the bees 

 are more restful, and they can be put up in less time as there are 

 more at home. Give food if necessary as before. 



I consider the most satisfactory way and the more profitable 

 to the purchaser when wishing to establish a stock of any new 

 variety is to get them in 



Three-frame Nuclei ; 



but I do not mean such as are often sent out, and as some I have 



