HOW YOUR STOCK IS TO BE OBTAINED. 41 



whole boards. These frame-works have the advantage of more 

 firmness and the facility they afford for ventilation. On whole 

 boards the hive must be'elevated by bars, or holes be cut through 

 the shelf. 



CHAPTER VII. 



HOW YOUR STOCK IS TO BE OBTAINED. 



You may procure stock either in the spring or autumn. I 

 should prefer the former period, because that is the fitting time 

 for removal of stocks from the old-fashioned, awkward hives to 

 the more improved modern receptacles ; but it is more difficult 

 to ascertain the exact condition of the stock you are about pur- 

 chasing in spring than it is in autumn. I am sorry to say that 

 unless you purchase your stock from a friend, or from some one, 

 at all events, that you can confidently depend on, you are very 

 likely to be taken in, and must, therefore, be upon your guard 

 against imposition : as some writer — I forget who — quaintly 

 enough remarks, " Let it be with the bees as with a wife, never 

 take them on the recommendation of another party" If you 

 would purchase a stock in early spring, just after the bees have 

 been removed from their winter quarters, you need not attempt 

 it unless from a person on whose honor you can positively de- 

 pend. If during the months of May or June, you can form some 

 judgment for yourself, and if you act cautiously, may, perhaps, 

 bid defiance to trickery : in this case you should visit the garden, 

 or other locality, in which the hive stands that you intend pur- 

 chasing, about mid-day ; stand opposite to it, and observe atten- 

 tively the actions of its inhabitants. If they crowd busily in and 

 out of the hive, giving evidence of their industry by the laden 

 appearance of their legs, and altogether exhibiting a busy ear- 

 nestness in their toils, you may safely buy the* hive ; and if you 

 obtain this hive before swarming has taken place, you may look 

 upon yourself as a fortunate man. 



If the object of your intentions be an autumnal hive, you had 

 better ascertain that the massacre of the drones has taken place ; 

 an observation of the stand and of the ground around the hive 

 will tell this. Observe the actions of these bees — see that they 



