PROCESS OF DEPRIVATION. 359 



showed themselves most anxious to adopt the system of 

 deprivation ; but who were actually deterred from it by 

 the almost insuperable obstacles with which deprivation is 

 attended in the common cottage hive. To contend with a 

 few thousands of infuriated insects appears to be an act 

 nearly allied to madness, when the same if not a greater 

 share of profit can be obtained by a halfpenny-worth of 

 sulphur. We therefore consider it utterly hopeless to intro- 

 duce the system of deprivation into this country, so long as 

 the common straw hive is in general use. 



The process of deprivation appears at the first view to be 

 one of a most formidable nature ; but it is in reality not so 

 much so as it seems to be. The operator has always in 

 smoke a most powerful auxiliary, by which he can in a 

 moment quell a hive of bees, in the utmost state of iras- 

 cibility ; and with this potent aid at hand, the most timid 

 person may fearlessly extract the combs even from the 

 cottage hive. The following is the process to be adopted. 

 The first point is to ascertain the weight of the hive, from 

 which a correct estimate may be formed of the quantity 

 that can with safety to the bees be taken from them. A 

 different calculation, however, is to be observed between an 

 old and a new hive, and the particular season of the year 

 must be taken into the account, in which the deprivation 

 takes place. The weight of an old hive is not always a 

 correct criterion of the quantity of honey, as in all old hives 

 there is a superabundance of bee bread, which is the most 

 ponderous substance in a hive. Take fifty cells filled with 

 bee bread, and fifty cells filled with honey, and the weight 

 of the former compared with that of the latter will be as 

 three to two. If the hive weigh thirty pounds, which is by 

 no means an unusual weight, if deprived in the spring, it 

 can well afford to lose ten pounds, but if in the autumn, we 

 would not recommend more than five to be taken. The 

 operation of deprivation should be always performed in the 



