56 THE HIVE AND THE HONEY-BEE. 



the bees should be allowed time to fasten them once again se- 

 curely in their places. 



" Water carriage, when procurable, is the best, as it shakes 

 the hives least ; but when land carriage must be resorted to, the 

 hives should be carried on poles, slung on men's shoulders. 

 The journey should be pursued at night only, and the bees suf- 

 fered to go forth and feed during the day. Such is their instinct, 

 that they will readily find their way back; but they should not 

 be suffered to go forth until at the distance of upwards of ten or 

 eleven miles from their original home, otherwise they will be lost 

 in endeavoring to regain it — a moderate distance induces them 

 to abandon the idea, and to become reconciled to their new quar- 

 ters If traveling by canal, the hives should be removed from 

 the boat, and placed on stands, at some distance from the bank 

 ere the insects are let out, otherwise they will be lost in thou- 

 sands by falling into the water on their return. If your weak 

 stocks happen to be placed near the strong ones of some one else, 

 you will stand a fair chance of having them all killed in encoun- 

 ters with their more powerful neighbors. It would be well also 

 to see that your hives are placed in a situation where they will 

 be safe from the attacks of cattle or other foes. Before fetching 

 the hives home again, it will not be amiss to ascertain their con- 

 dition and weight, and to take from them what honey they can 

 spare. 



I must here inform you how to ascertain the state or wealth of 

 a hive. About the middle of September examine your hives ; at 

 all events do not, whatever be the aspect of the season, neglect 

 this necessary operation until October ; but if the season appear 

 likely to turn out to be a severe one, set about it even earlier 

 than I have indicated. But do not mistake me — I do not mean 

 that you can deprive your bees of any honey so late as this ; if I 

 said so, I should be only instructing you in the best and most ex- 

 peditious method of destroying your stocks. I only mean, that 

 under certain circumstances, and in peculiarly favorable weather, 

 you may postpone until the periods I have named, your final ex- 

 amination of your stocks, in order to ascertain which can, and 

 which cannot, support itself, unaided by you, during the winter 

 months. 



In observatory hives, and such as are formed on the collateral 

 box, or piled box principle, there are usually such contrivances as 

 will admit of inspection of the hive and its contents without the 



