SURPLUS HONEY IN BOXES AND EXTBACTED. 65 



his bees do it. Boxes should contain but a single comb and from one 

 to three pounds of honey, In some places the smaller boxes retail best, 

 in others the larger. Other things being equal bees store honey better 

 in a two or three pound box than in one smaller though they will start 

 well in smaller ones if they are arranged in a large frame so that the 

 bees and air can pass freely from one to another. Small boxes have 

 this advantage — that when placed at the side of the brood nest, the 

 queen is not apt to lay eggs in them. Perhaps the sixe of box which 

 one adopts should be regulated to some extent by the size of the hive he 

 is using. Two tiers of boxes may be placed in the brood nest in wide 

 frames and in these from two to four boxes long according to size of the 

 hive. Thus a large frame to fit the broodnest will hold from four to eight 

 of the small ones. There may be either two tiers of the wide frames 

 holding the boxes, or two tier3 of boxes in one wide frame. If the caps 

 are shallower than the broodnest the cases should be half the depth of 

 the frame and hold one tier of the boxes. Bees store honey more rapid- 

 ly in the broodnest, at times than in the cap, but they will seal it up 

 more rapidly above. Strips of tin one-half inch narrower than the 

 inside depth of the honey box should be tacked on one side of the 

 wide frames so as to prevent the passage of bees above and below. Bees 

 will not attach comb to tin, and by its use straight combs are gotten in 

 the frames which will pack closely without mashing, The tops and 

 sides of the wide frame which holds the boxes should be two inches 

 wide and fit closely together in the hive. The bottom should be one 

 and three-fourths wide and tacked in the centre at the bottom so that 

 when two are used side by side bees can enter from below between them. 

 For the same reason both the bottom and top of the boxes should be 

 one and three-fourths inches wide and the sides two inches. If desired 

 boxes thus arranged may bo covered with glass after they are taken 



