42 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE. 



are lively and industrious ; and if, on your too near approach, 

 one or two bees dash at your face, do not be alarmed, but rather 

 regard their pugnacity as a sign of vigor, and buy the hive. 

 Some writers speak of the necessity of purchasing only such 

 stocks as are in nice new hives. This is an advice very necessary 

 to be attended to, but it would not be so, were you sure that the 

 interior of the hive were filled only with honey-comb, and with 

 no old, worn-out comb, the accumulation of years. If you are 

 in. doubt on the subject, you should fumigate the hive in the 

 evening, in the manner hereafter to be described ; then, turning 

 up the hive, you can readily ascertain the character of its con- 

 tents. If the comb be black, have nothing to do with the stock. 

 The genuine color of the comb is white, and, consequently, the 

 lighter it is, the more the stock is to be esteemed. 



Never, unless you can depend on the party, send your hive to 

 receive a swarm ; for you may, if you do, have a second swarm 

 imposed upon you for a first — a comparatively valueless stock 

 for just the very .thing you desire. The first swarm begin the 

 formation of the combs at the middle of the apex of the hive ; 

 the second does so at the side. These are the only criteria I can 

 furnish, for neither weight nor bulk are to be depended upon. It 

 is to the obstinate use of the old-fashioned hive that these diffi- 

 culties, and these opportunities for fraud, are attributable. Were 

 the improved system once established, these cautions would be 

 no longer called for. Wildman has given some good advice 

 as to the purchase of stocks ; and in this advice he speaks like 

 an oracle. Attend to him : — 



" The person who intends to erect an apiary, should purchase 

 a proper number of hives at the latter end of the year, when 

 they are cheapest. The hives should be full of combs, and well 

 stored with bees. The purchaser should examine the combs, in 

 order to know the age of the hives. The combs of that season 

 are white ; those of a former year are of a darkish yellow ; and 

 when the combs are black, the hives should be rejected, because 

 old hives are mosi liable to vermin and other accidents. 



" If the number of hives wanted have not been purchased in 

 the autumn, it will be necessary to remedy this neglect after the 

 severity of the cold is past in the spring. At this season, bees 

 which are in good condition will get into the fields early in the 

 morning, return loaded, enter boldly, and do not come out of the 

 hive in bad weather, for when they do, this indicates that they 



