THE HONEY BEE IN NEW ZEALAND, 
45 
lid, with small holes cut in it, w T hich is the common way 
of putting them in, for the bees have a freer passage to 
the glass. The manner of taking them when full is very 
simple : I have one of the rims which run round the top 
board pinned to it, and not nailed: this is removed when 
a glass is to be taken, and a thin carving knife passed 
under the top, to separate the comb and the glass from 
the bars, to which they are generally firmly united. In 
no other way is it possible to take away a full glass, 
without certainly breaking the comb, and possibly the 
glass itself. The bees which happen to be in the glass 
at the time it is taken are easily got out of it by the 
means recommended for the top boxes. 
Dr. Cumming, in a letter to the Times , says .—In answer 
to another inquiry, do I approve using stupifying fumes, 
as of puff-ball, &c., in order to expel the bees from supers 
full of honey?—I say, certainly not. It may not injure 
the bees if judiciously administered. Some highly re¬ 
commend it. But it" is not necessary. The bees will 
leave the super on its being detached from the hive and 
carried to a little distance, and will return in an hour or 
two to their home and their queen. The only case in 
which I have recourse to fumigation is when any portion 
of the comb, through accidental admission of wet, has 
become mouldy. A few whiffs of puff-ball may be in¬ 
jected during five minutes by means of an instrument 
sold for this purpose. As soon as the humming noise 
ceases, lift the hive and cut out the mouldy portion of the 
comb, replace it, and in twenty minutes the bees will 
a^ain be at work. This is the only case in which I like 
to employ either this or tobacco-smoke, which answers as 
well if not too long continued. 
Your apiary or bee-shed should be placed as neai 
your dwelling as possible, sheltered from the north and 
north-east winds (south and south-west in IN ew Zealan y , 
and at the greatest possible distance from poultry. I re- 
auently, but quietly and unobtrusively, visit your bees, 
watch them at work in your bee-glasses, or by windows 
in your bee-boxes. Let your children play beside them. 
They are fond of children, and unless violently irritated 
they will not injure them. 1 can state this fiorn vciv 
