reason, and the middle of the day is the best time for the work.
Send two or three puffs of smoke in at the entrance to drive back the frightened sentinels who keep careful watch of the portals of the hive. Then lift one edge of the cover of the hive a little and send two or three puffs in the crack; then lift off the cover and set it down beside you; then lift the quilt or super-cover at one edge, and give two or three puffs of smoke beneath it to drive the bees down among the frames, always remembering that under ordinary circumstances a very little smoke is necessary to frighten and subdue the bees. In fact the same rule applies to smoking bees as to smoking tobacco; if one is moderate in its use, the least harm will result.
HOW TO EXAMINE THE BROOD-CHAMBER. (Plate VIII.)
Stand at one side of the hive, and not in front of it. Hang the smoker on the side of the hive, so as to have it within reach. Mr. Root advises sitting on the cover of the hive set on edge while you examine the brood-frame. This will do for a well-poised person, but we prefer a little stool, which we can carry easily from hive to hive, as we wish something that we can sit on calmly as the situation requires. Commence at one side and loosen the outside section with a knife, or what is better, an old screw-driver. Take the frame by the projecting ends, and lift it up so that you may examine it on one side, then twirl it half-way over to examine it on the other. It requires
