1879 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



261 



UNITING- BESS. Uniting colonies 

 is much like introducing queens, inasmuch 

 as no fixed rule can be given for all cases. 

 It is a very simple matter to lift the frames, 

 bees and all, out of one hive and set them 

 into another, where the two are situated side 

 by side. Usually, there will be no quarrel- 

 ing, if this is done when the weather is too 

 cold for the bees to fly, but this is not al- 

 ways the case. If one colony is placed 

 close to one side of the hive, and the other 

 to the other side, and they are small enough 



WHAT TO DO WITH THE t^lEEXS. 



If one of the colonies to be united has been 

 several days queenless, all the better ; for a 

 queenless colony will often give up its local- 

 ity and accept a new one, by simply shaking 

 them in front of a hive containing a laying 

 queen. From a hive containing neither 

 queen nor brood, I have induced the whole 

 lot to desert, and go over to a neighboring 

 colony, by simply shaking the bees in front 

 of it. They were so overjoyed at finding a 

 laying queen, that they called all their com- 



for a vacant comb or two between them, j ra des to the new home, and all hands set to 

 they will very rarely fight. After two or 

 three days, the bees will be found to have 

 united themselves peaceably, and the brood 

 and stores may then be placed compactly to- 

 gether, and your chaff cushions put in at each 

 side. If there are frames containing some 

 honey, that cannot be put in, they should be 

 placed in an upper story, and the bees al 

 lowed to carry it down. You should always 

 look to them 20 minutes or half an hour after 

 they are put into one hive, to see if every- 

 thing is amicable on "both sides of the 

 house." If you find any bees fighting, or 

 any doubled up on the bottom board, give 

 them such a smoking that they cannot tell 

 "which from t'other," and after 15 or 20 

 minutes, if they are fighting again, give 

 them another "dose," and repeat until they 

 are good to each other. I have never failed 

 in getting them peaceable after two or three 

 smokings. 



If you wish to unite two colonies so large 

 that a single story will not easily contain 

 them, which, by the way, I feel sure is always 

 poor policy, or if their honey is scattered 

 through the whole ten combs in each hive, 

 proceed as before, only set one hive over 

 the other. If this is done on a cool day, 

 and the bees are kept in for two or 

 three days, few, if any, will go back to the 

 old stand. If the hives stood within 6 feet 

 of each other, they will all get back without 

 any trouble anyway, for they will hear the 

 call of their comrades who have discovered 

 the new order of things. Sometimes you 

 can take two colonies while flying, and put 

 them together without trouble, by making 

 the lost bees call their comrades. Only actual 

 practice and acquaintance with the habits 

 of bees will enable you to do this, and if 

 you have not that knowledge, you must get 

 it by experience. Get a couple of colonies 

 that you do not value much, and practice on 

 them. As I have said all along, beware of 

 robbers, or you will speedily make two col 

 onies into none at all, instead of into one. 



work and carried every drop of honey to the 

 hive with the fertile queen. By taking ad- 

 vantage of this disposition we can often 

 make short work of uniting. If you are in 

 a hurry, or do not care for the queens, you 

 can unite without paying any attention to 

 them, and one will be killed; but, as even a 

 hybrid queen is now worth 50c, I do not 

 think it pays to kill them. Remove the 

 poorest one and keep her safely caged, until 

 you are sure the other is well received by 

 the bees. If she is killed, as is sometimes 

 the case, you have the other to replace her. 

 Where stocks are several rods apart, they 

 are often moved a couple of feet a day while 

 the bees are flying briskly, until they are 

 side by side, and then united as we have di- 

 rected. This is so much trouble, that I 

 much prefer waiting for cold weather. If 

 your bees are in box hives, I should say your 

 first job on hand is to transfer them. If 

 you have several kinds of hives in your 

 apiary, you are about as badly off, and the 

 remedy is to throw away all but one. My 

 friends, those of you who are buying every 

 patent hive that comes along, and putting 

 your bees into them, you little know how 

 much trouble and bother you are making 

 yourselves for the years to come. 



In conclusion, I would advise deferring 

 the uniting of your bees until we have sev- 

 eral cold rainy days, in Oct., for instance, on 

 which bees will not fly. Then proceed as 

 directed. If you have followed the advice I 

 have given, you will have little uniting to 

 do, except with the queen rearing nuclei; 

 and with these, you have only to take the 

 hives away, and set the frames in the hive 

 below, when you are done with them. If 

 the hive below is a strong one, as it should 

 of course be, just set the frames from the 

 nucleus into the upper story, until all the 

 brood has hatched. If you wish to make a 

 colony of the various nuclei, collect them 

 i during a cold day, and put them all into one 

 hive. If you have bees from 3 or 4, they will 



