TO ASCERTAIN THE WEIGHT OF HIVES.
Many apiaries do not prosper, in consequence of the ignorance of those
who have the care of them. How many people follow blindly the way they
have been used to, without knowing wherefore; others go on by chance,
without rule or guide. At one time they ruin their hives, by depriving
them of too much of their honey; at another, they suffer whole colonies
to die of hunger, when they might save them by giving them food;
and, in autumn, they suffocate those that appear to be destitute of
provisions, because they know not how or in what manner to preserve
them. Few amateurs understand thoroughly the state and wants of their
hives, and generally estimate them by lifting them up to feel their
weight; and, as this may be the cause of numerous mistakes, some being
three or four times heavier than others, it is of the utmost importance
to know the exact weight of each hive, when empty, without either combs
or bees. For this purpose, I expressly recommend, that each hive be
weighed before putting a swarm into it, and the weight noted down in a
memorandum book, as well as on a ticket nailed on the hive, the use of
which we shall soon see.