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BEE-CULTURE. 
Tumblers set over holes in the top might be filled with honey. 
It is better to cover the hive over with cloth for a few days 
to keep it dark until the bees become accustomed to the place. 
In such a hive the keeper can at any time show his visitors 
the queen bee. He can also be sure that she lays the eggs, 
as he can actually see her depositing them. The process of 
rearing brood, storing honey and bee-bread, building combs, 
&c., can all be witnessed. 
TRANSFERRING. 
Sometimes it is very desirable to get the bees out of a de- 
fective hive. They could be driven into an empty hive just 
before they have commenced gathering honey freely in the 
spring of the year, and they would do as well at least as a 
top swarm. But the brood and bee-bread in the hive at that 
time of the year would be of no value to the the bee keeper, 
which if given to the colony would be worth as much to them 
as a medium sized swarm. It is therefore best to transfer to 
a movable comb hive. To do so invert the hive containing 
the bees ; set an empty box on the top, which is called the 
forcing box; hammer on the hive to make the bees run up 
into this box ; then set it with the bees on the old stand ; 
pry the side off the hive so as to get the combs out as whole 
as possible, unless tools made for cutting out combs are used ; 
lay the combs on a table and fit them into the frames of the 
new hive by laying the frame on the comb and cutting around 
neatly inside with a knife; be careful to put in all the brood 
and as much of the bee-bread and straight combs of honey as 
you can ; keep tho brood as nearly as possible in the samo posi- 
tion in the hive ; keep the same end of the combs up ; now set 
the combs all in the new hive and close it up, except the regu- 
lar entrance ; set it on the old stand and run the bees into it as 
you would a new swarm ; then if there is any danger of rob- 
bery, make the entrance very small ; two narrow pieces of 
board six inches long should ke kept by each hive to lessen 
the entrance when necessary; to hold the combs perpendicu- 
lar in the frames it is generally necessary to set up two or 
three strips of wood one-fourth of an inch square between 
each pair of combs extending one-fourth of an inch above 
and below the frames. I usually put a pair of these strips on 
each side of the comb and tie them together at the top and 
