THE APIARY. 
423 
against some other colony, send the disturbers home 
apace, with a good wetting from the garden syringe. 
My very simple device, which increases the help- 
fulness of the tunnel, and is also of service in winter, 
as noticed under its proper head, is seen at Fig. 102, 
and as applied to the hive, at Fig. 17. It consists of 
three slips about 3in. wide; the lower two {d and c) 
are made by dividing one piece rather more than the 
extreme length of the hive mouth, and Mn. or fin. thick. 
The cut takes the form of an acute zigzag. The shorter 
piece ( 3 ) is nailed to a ; the loose piece (c), sliding back- 
wards beneath a, gives, without reduction, the size of 
the opening to the hive as all three stand together on the 
alighting-board. The opening is, however, altered in 
a moment to suit season and size of stock, and has 
this great advantage, that when robbing begins, and 
it is needful to make the entrance very narrow, it is 
still the one known to the proper inhabitants, to whom 
it, in consequence, does not add the disadvantage of 
a bewilderment at the very moment home has to 
be defended against an enemy. The sharp bend now' 
makes the attack more difficult; and if a pin (/>) be placed 
on the under side of a, near the point of b, the danger 
of narrowing the tunnel so as to prevent bees passing 
will be avoided. It is generally wise, when it is 
necessary to carry the contraction of the mouth to 
extremes, to place perforated zinc over the feedhole, 
or in some w'ay to give subsidiary ventilation ; and 
after a battle an examination should be made at night, 
lest the bees, in their hurry to carry out their dead, 
should have blocked the narrow outlet. 
Accidents will happen in the best-regulated apiaries; 
