7 he Country Gentlemaiis Magazine 



%)cit Apiarian. 



UNITING HIVES. 



THE careful bee-keeper, in watching his 

 hives in spring, will be very likely to 

 find some that appear to be weak ; but com- 

 paratively few bees seem to be flying about 

 them, while the others seem to be swarming 

 with bees. Now, the sooner those weak 

 hives are united or strengthened the better. 

 A hive weak in spring may, with a good 

 honey season, become strong, but will store 

 but little, if any, surplus honey, and if a 

 swarm is thrown off it Avill probably be a 

 late one. The golden rule for bee-keepers 

 is — " keep your stocks strong." To do this 

 requires a firm determination not to depend 

 upon the number of hives, but upon their 

 strength. In uniting hives, two facts con- 

 nected Avith the instincts of the honey bee 

 should be borne in mind. The first is, bees 

 note the location of their hives, and if they 

 are moved any distance within their range of 

 flight, will return to their locality, instead of 

 the hive. The second is, bees recognize each 

 other by their scent. 



Now, we learn from the first, that hives to 

 be united must be near each other, or be 

 broughi near each other by moving i or 

 2 feet every pleasant day so as to accus- 

 tom the bees to this change of locality. And 

 we learn by the second fact that if we wish 

 to unite two colonies of bees and make them 

 " harmonize," we niust give them the same 

 scent. The most natural plan is to take the 

 honey board from one of the hives to be 

 united, replacing it with a piece of wire 

 cloth of the same size, laying it on loosely 



so that it can be easily removed. The other 

 hive is lifted from the bottom board, placed 

 on the first one, and tiie entrances closed. 

 The wire cloth between the hives, while it 

 prevents the bees from mixing, admits the 

 air to circulate freely between them, by which, 

 in the course of three or four days, they 

 will have the same scent. Then by 

 slipping out the wire cloth, the hives 

 will unite peaceably; the bees in the 

 upper hive passing down through the lower 

 hive and its entrance — which has not been 

 closed — into the open air. The frames of 

 brood and honey in the upper hive can be 

 exchanged with empty frames in the lower, 

 or given to other hives. The scent can be 

 changed by sprinkling the bees in both hives 

 with sweetened water scented with pepper- 

 mint, and then uniting, or by smoking with 

 tobacco. The latter is the most expeditious. 

 Where there are no permanent bottom boards 

 to the hives, one hive can be set on the top of 

 the other as mentioned above, Avithout the 

 wire cloth, and then smoked. In unit- 

 ing hives with permanent bottom boards, by 

 having a box cr hive for the purpose with- 

 out a bottom, the frames and bees of one of 

 the hives can be changed to it, and this 

 placed on the top of the other. 



Where there is any choice of queens in 

 two hives to be united, the least desirable 

 one should be taken from the hive before 

 uniting, to secure the safety of the other. All 

 uniting of bees should be done towards 

 night. — Prairie Fanner. 



