THE HONEY-BEE IN NEW ZEALAND. 
11 
hive three or four inches across, the cap having a small 
bit of glass inserted in it, which will serve to show when 
it is filled with comb and honey; when this is the case 
take the cap carefully off, carry it to a little distance, and 
place it on the ground, the bottom upwards, and with a 
bunch of feathers whisk off the bees as they appear on the 
surface. They will soon return to the parent hive, and 
thus not a single bee need be destroyed. A fresh cap 
should be in readiness to be placed on the hive, except, 
indeed, the first should be removed late in the season, in 
that case the hole should be covered by a piece of slate or 
tile and plastered over with mortar. If the first cap is 
removed early in the season, say the end of May (November 
in New Zealand, remember) or beginning of June 
(December), a second cap may be filled provided the season 
is a very favorable one; the bee owner will thus have a 
very profitable return and retain his original stock of hiv es; 
should he indeed wish to increase it he may wait for an 
early swarm, and when this has been secured he may place 
a cap on the hive which has given him a swarm, and if it 
is a good season he may expect to have it filled. I have 
also placed a cap on a very early swarm and also had it 
filled, in which case the honey in it is particularly fine and 
white} now, as you will be informed farther on in this 
work, the above plan of taking the finest honey by the use 
of the bell-glass or cap may be adopted, at least in the 
Province of Auckland, at almost any season, as the bees 
work nearly all the year round. 
Position of the Hives. 
The same writer goes on to say,—Some years ago I was 
a very extensive and also a very successful bee owner, and 
I will now give a short account of the method I adopted 
with them. In the first place I invariably placed the 
entrance to the hive towards the setting sun,, and for the 
following reasons—first, if placed to the rising.sun they 
are tempted to leave the hive, while the dew is on the 
flowers, and thus get their wings wetted, and are conse¬ 
quently unable to fly back to the hive. . Second Bees 
work late in the evening*, and if the hive is placed to 
receive the rays of the setting* sun they more readily find 
