APPLE BLOSSOMS. 83 



honey was secured to make the hives gain several 

 pounds in weight. Of the sugar maple there were 

 large numbers of trees within a mile of me, and 

 when they opened, the bees had pasturage as good 

 as could be asked. They worked merrily, and in 

 two days I noticed the hives were about full of 

 brood and honey. This was while the queen-rear- 

 ing was going on, when there were but twenty-five 

 hives. Extracting was begun next morning. The 

 day was still and warm. The bees were flying rap- 

 idly to and from the maple woods. The first hive 

 was smoked a little, opened, the frames lifted in 

 succession, and the bees shaken into the hive. The 

 frames were hung in a carrier, and taken to the 

 shop, where the extractor was firmly set, at such a 

 height that the honey could run from it into the 

 bung of a barrel. Being curious to know the num- 

 ber of pounds I should get on this, my first honey 

 day, I had arranged to draw the honey from the 

 extractor into a pail, and then pour into the barrel. 

 By weighing the first pailful, and counting the num- 

 ber of pailfuls, the whole number of pounds would 

 be known. 



The extractor 11 held two frames at a time. As the 

 honey was not yet capped over, there was no labor 

 in uncapping. Two frames were put in, and I 

 turned the crank slowly at first. The speed was 

 increased until I heard the honey fly out against 



