80 
BEE CULTURE. 
Do not take honey at night. Bees seem instinctively to 
know that this looks rascally, and will resent it with double 
the stinging they would in the day time. 
OBSERVATORY HIVE. 
“Long from the eye of man and face of day, 
Involved In darkness all their customs lay ; 
Until a sairo, well versed in nature’s lore, 
A genius form’d all nature to explore; 
Hives well contriv’d in crystal frames disposed, 
And there the busy citizens enclosed.” 
Be van. 
An Observatory hive is necessary to one who is interested 
in watching the internal operations of a hive of bees. To 
make such a hive lift a frame containing honey and brood, 
and a quart of bees from a full sized hive; if there is no 
queen with them all the better, as the process of rearing 
young queens can be seen if there are eggs or young larvae in 
the combs. Have a narrow frame made to receive this frame; 
set a sash containing glass at each side of the comb so that 
both sides of the comb will be in full view. The glass should 
be near half an inch from the comb. Unless the bees he 
moved a mile or more to prevent them from going back to the 
old hive, it is best to shut them in two or three days — giving 
them air ; then let them out a little before sundown, so that 
they will not go far from home that evening, but fly around 
the hive and mark the place. Such a hive could be set in a 
parlor with a tube for the bees to pass out and in, under the 
window. 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 accus- 
tomed 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 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 
