TRANSrEERING 



441 



TEAN8FERRING. 



clean. A great part of this is 

 really women's worlv; and un- 

 less yon can persuade your wife 

 or sister, or some good friend 

 among the sex to help, you are 

 not fit to be a bee-l^eeper. A 

 good smoker will be very 

 handy; but if you have none, 

 make a smoke with some bits 

 of rotten wood in a pan; blow a 

 little in at the entrance of the 

 hive, tip the old hive over back- 

 ward, and blow in a little more 

 smoke to drive the bees down 

 among the combs; let it stand 

 there, and place the new hive so 

 the entrance is exactly in place 

 of the old one; put a large news- 

 paper in front of the new hive 

 with one edge under the en- 

 trance. The bees returning 

 laden with pollen and honey 

 now alight and go into the hive, 

 only to rush out again in dis- 

 may at finding it empty; we 

 therefore want to get one comb 

 in for them, to let them know it 

 is their old home. Move back 

 the old hive a little further, in 

 order to get all round it, and 

 give the bees a little more 

 smoke whenever they seem dis- 

 posed to be "obstreperous." 

 Some bee-keepers pry off the 

 hive-side and proceed to cut out 

 the combs, with the bees run- 

 ning all over every thing. (3f 

 course, this necessarily kills many, to say 

 nothing of the nuisance of having bees 

 crawling over the ground, u\) your trousers- 

 legs, etc. A better way is to place a small 

 box over the inverted hive, large enough to 

 receive the whole cluster of bees. Now 

 drum on the hive-sides with a couple of 

 sticks or the palms of the hands, until the 

 bees run up into the box abo\ e. Nearly all 

 of them can bf induced to leave their combs 

 for the box, which should be removed as 

 soon as a majority of the bees have gone up 

 into it, and placed to one side. You can 

 now pry off a side of the box hive, having the 

 bees practically out of the way. On a flat 

 board lay each comb or sheet of brood, as 

 rapidly as cut out, and over it the frame into 

 which you are to transfer the comb. With 

 a sharp, keen-edged knife mark out on the 

 comb the size of the frame— that is, its in- 

 side dimensions. Remove the frame and cut 

 along the mark, after which slip over the 



FIG. 1.— DRUMMING BEES UP INTO THE EMPTY BOX 



frame. If the comb will not stay securely 

 without any fastening, wind string a couple 

 of times around, and tie. We recommend 

 string in preference to transferring-clasps, 

 transf erring-wires, and every thing of that 

 sort, for the reason that the bees will not 

 forget to remove the strings, bit by bit, by 

 the time the comb is fastened. Rubber 

 bands are said to be applied more quickly 

 than strings. I'roceed thus luitil you have 

 used up all the brood and good comb, as it 

 does not pay, at present prices of founda- 

 tion, to use small pieces. All such should 

 be put into the solar wax-extractor. See 

 Wax. 



Pieces of comb containing brood can be fit- 

 ted into the frames; but somehow we would 

 manage to secure all the brood possible in- 

 side of the frame in one large piece; whereas 

 little scraps that may be left had better be 

 consigned to the solar wax-extractor. After 

 all good combs ai'e transferred, any remain- 



