24 BEES. 
the swarm. In 21 days all of the worker brood in the box hive will 
have emerged. These young bees may then be united with the bees 
in the frame hive and the box hive destroyed. 
Colonies often take up their abode in walls of houses and it is often 
necessary to remove them to prevent damage from melting combs. 
If the cavity in which the combs are built can be reached, the method 
of procedure is like that of transferring, except that drumming is im- 
practical and the bees must simply be subdued with smoke and the 
combs cut out with the bees on them. 
Another method which is often better is to place a bee escape over 
the entrance to the cavity, so that the bees can come out, but can not 
return. A cone of wire cloth about 8 inches high with a hole at the 
apex just large enough for one bee to pass will serve as a bee escape, 
or regular bee escapes (fig. 8) such as are sold by dealers may be used. 
A hive which they can enter is then placed beside the entrance. 
The queen is not obtained in this way and, of course, goes right on lay- 
ing eggs, but as the colony is rapidly reduced in size the amount of 
brood decreases. As brood emerges, the younger bees leave the 
cavity and join the bees in the hive, until finally the queen is left prac- 
tically alone. A new queen should be given to the bees in the hive as 
soon as possible, and in a short time they are fully established in their 
new quarters. After about four weeks, when all or nearly all of the 
brood in the cavity has emerged, the bee escape should be removed 
and as large a hole made at the entrance of the cavity as possible. 
The bees will then go in and rob out the honey and carry it to the hive, 
leaving only empty combs. The empty combs will probably do no 
damage, as moths usually soon destroy them and they may be left in 
the cavity and the old entrance carefully closed to prevent another 
swarm from taking up quarters there. 
In transferring bees from a hollow tree the method will depend on 
the accessibility of the cavity. Usually it is difficult to drum out the 
bees and the combs can be cut out after subduing the colony with 
smoke. 
UNITING. 
Frequently colonies become queenless when it is not practicable to 
give them a new queen, and the best practice under such conditions 
is to unite the queenless bees to a normal colony. If any colonies are 
weak in the fall, even if they have a queen, safe wintering is better 
insured if two or more weak colonies are united, keeping the best 
queen. Under various other conditions which may arise the bee 
keeper may find it desirable to unite bees from different colonies. 
Some fundamental facts in bee behavior must be thoroughly under- 
stood to make this a success. 
Every colony of bees has a distinctive colony odor and by this 
means bees recognize the entering of their hive by bees from other 
447 
