HIVES AND BOXES. 31 



The box fronts on each side of the feeding drawer are formed 

 of a bit of talc suspended over a hole on the outside, thus per- 

 mitting egress, but precluding ingress. By means of this con- 

 trivance you are enabled to add to the number of your bees, 

 without alarming or annoying them, and they can likewise escape 

 when you are depriving them of one or the other of the collateral 

 boxes. This contrivance further precludes the intrusion of insect 

 enemies. 



The centre is perforated on the top, and over the hole a bell 

 glass is placed, which, when the hive is filled, the bees fill with 

 honey, and it is unnecessary to add that this honey is of the 

 very purest description. Wooden fittings or covers are provided 

 for the protection of these glasses. 



The bees being placed in the centre box, or pavilion, soon 

 commence operations, and .speedily fill it with honey. When full, 

 which you may ascertain by looking through a window fixed in 

 the back of the box, you are to draw the tin slide which sepa- 

 rates it fi om the bell glass ; this is best done on a warm day, and 

 you should previously cut through the comb with a thin wire. 

 Before taking off the glass the operator should pause for a few 

 minutes, to observe whether there be any unusual stir among 

 the imprisoned bees, for if they do not appear alarmed, the 

 queen is among them, and, in that case, you should withdraw 

 the slide, and postpone the operation to another day. 



In taking away the glass, envelope it in a silk handkerchief, 

 and remove it about ten yards from the boxes ; then place it a 

 little on one side, so as to permit the imprisoned bees to escape, 

 which they will do in the course of a few minutes. 



When occasion requires, the bees are to be similarly admitted 

 into the side boxes, by drawing the slides, but in removing one 

 of these boxes some precautions require to be used. For in- 

 stance, open the ventilator the night previous ; this will, by 

 lowering the temperature of the hive, and admitting a current of 

 air, induce the bees to leave the box thus treated, and to con- 

 gregate in the pavilion. You may then put down the slide, and 

 let the bees remain for ten minutes or so in darkness. If the 

 queen be not in the box to be taken, any bees that may remain 

 in it will be restless and in confusion. If she should be there, 

 the commotion will be in the centre box. If the queen should 

 be in the box you intend taking, draw up the slide again and she 

 will soon leave it. Having emptied the full box, return it to its 



