5 8 Oil Rational Bee-Keeping, 
are in full work, combs filled with honey may be 
taken from the sides of our hive. 
2. Combs filled with brood may be taken 
from any strong hives, and may be moved into 
weaker ones, which need strengthening. 
3. If a hive is in bad condition, it is easy to 
ascertain by taking out the bars, one by one, 
with the bees on them, whether there is a queen 
in the hive or not. 
In the latter case, if there is no brood in the 
hive dating from the end of March, some comb 
containing brood at different stages of maturity 
must be introduced without delay. If this is 
done, the preservation of the hive will be 
insured. 
It is true that several bee-masters pretend 
that the queen cannot be replaced, but our ex- 
perience proves the contrary ; nevertheless, we 
must allow' that we have never been able to 
introduce a queen into a hive which was pro- 
ducing only drones, without having first taken 
advantage of some fine afternoon to brush out 
all the bees at a short distance from the bee- 
house ; the bees will then return to a hive put 
in the place of their original one, and will receive 
a new queen gladly. 
