OPERATIONS WITH THE HUISH HIVE. 



285 



provided with the object most dreaded by the bees, namely 

 smoke, as soon as 

 the flap is opened, 

 and the bees present 

 themselves, they can 

 be driven away ; and 

 should they show any 

 disposition to return, 



the repetition of the smoke will curb in them all future 

 inclination to annoy the operator. To facilitate the extraction 

 of the combs, two 

 knives should be 

 ready at hand; one 

 long, for the pur- 

 pose of detaching the 

 combs from the side 

 of the hive ; and the 



other for cutting away any part of the comb which may be 

 attached to the next bar to that which is to be extracted ; 

 for although our object is in a 

 great degree obtained by forc- 

 ing the bees to work on the 

 bars, yet we will not presume 

 to say, that we have so far 

 succeeded as to confine the 

 combs exactly to one bar; nay, 

 in one or two instances, the bees carried their perverseness 

 to that extreme, as to construct their combs almost diago- 

 nally ; but this in itself we looked upon as a curious devia- 

 tion from their accustomed mode of action, for we never 

 yet experienced that the combs were formed in any other 

 direction than parallel with the entrance of the hive. 



It is curious to observe the comments which have been 

 made by several apiarians respecting the use and advantages 

 of this hive ; and although Dr. Bevan and others admit the 



