THE HONEY HAEVEST. 67 



necessity of handling it. In the ordinary hive, however, we can- 

 not avoid manually ascertaining the weight and condition of our 

 stock. In order to do so, you must previously have been ac- 

 quainted with the weight of your hive, and of the probable num- 

 ber of bees which it contains ; and I may also add, that it would 

 be as well if you had your stands so contrived as to admit of their 

 being raised with the hive for the purpose of weighing, as, if you 

 forcibly separate the latter from the former, you break the cemem 

 of propolis — a substance I have yet to describe, which unites the 

 hive to its position on the stand, and puts the bees to much un- 

 necessary trouble and annoyance. 



A hive should contain twenty pounds of honey for its support 

 during winter ; an increase of number in the hive, produced by 

 union, will not require an increase of food. Precisely the con- 

 trary is the case ; and the more abundant the stock of the bees 

 in autumn, the richer and the better able to work will they be in 

 spring — the more forward, therefore, will they be in summer, and 

 the greater will be your profit. 



There should be twenty pounds of honey left in a hive for winter 

 consumption, exclusive of the weight of both hive and bees. Of 

 course I cannot give you any assistance in ascertaining the weight 

 of the former, as that feature must depend upon its structure, 

 &c, and the materials of which it is composed. But the weight 

 of the bees themselves is quite a different matter. In lib. avoir- 

 dupois, or 16 oz., there are about five thousand bees — from fifteen 

 to twenty thousand bees constitute a strong hive, that is, from 

 four to Jive pounds in weight. 



If you find, after making these calculations and deductions, 

 that your stocks are under weight, you may either supply them 

 with food or unite two or more together. I am in favor of union ; 

 I now only speak with reference to such persons as have reaped 

 a second, or perhaps a third harvest from their bees. Had they 

 omitted the last, no such care would have been called for. 



Mr. Briggs, in a few words as to autumnal feeding, says, 

 The hives should be weighed. Age will cause hives to weigh heavier 

 than their legitimate contents would call for ; this is occasioned 

 by an accumulation of bee-bread and the cast sloughs which had 

 formerly served as envelopes to the young. In the case of old 

 hives, you must, therefore, allow from two to five pounds, accord- 

 ing to age, for these matters. These substances require to be 

 occasionally removed from the hive, as otherwise they will accurnu- 



