1908 



GI.KANINGS IM BKE CULTURE. 



1321 



TRANSFERRING 

 FROM BOX HIVES. 



A Quick Way of Do- 

 ing the Work With- 

 out Greatly Disturb- 

 ing the Bees. 



BY J. J. WILDER. 



Prepare as many hive- 

 bodies, using full sheets of 

 foundation in the frames, 

 as there are box hives to 

 be transferred; and in early 

 spring, or as soon as tne 

 first honey-plant begins to 

 bloom, turn a box hive so 

 that it rests on its back. 

 Then, with a hatchet or 

 ax, split the front side, 

 which is now the top, in 

 pieces about 2 inches wide, 

 and remove the one which 

 has the least comb attach- 

 ed to it, working it out 

 carefully so as not to tear 

 up any comb. A long- 

 bladed knife can now be 

 used to cut the comb from 

 the rest of the strips, and 

 remove about 12 inches of 

 the wood in the middle, 

 leaving just enough at ei- 

 ther edge so that the pre- 

 pared hive when set on 

 top will have a good level foundation to rest on. 

 If the box hive is narrower than the new one, nail 

 straight-edged strips on either side, flush with 

 the top. 



If the bees have not rebuilt the comb in the 

 top of the box hive since it was robbed, fill the 

 space with straw, hay, or burlap sacks, or any 

 thing the bees will not gnaw away. If this is not 

 done the bees will fill it with new comb, and the 

 work in the new hive will be retarded. If the 

 comb in the box hive was removed to a depth of 

 over 6 or 8 inches, and not rebuilt, reverse the 

 hive so the top will be about where the entrance 

 was, and remove the cover and nail it on the bot- 

 tom end so the end of the new hive will rest on 

 or against it. 



The front end of the box hive (the bottom 

 when the hive was standing) can be left open; but 

 the rear should be closed so no cool draft can pass 

 through it during changeable weather. 



Now set the prepared hive-body on the box 

 hive, making sure that there are no cracks at the 

 sides or back, and place a short piece of plank 

 over the portion of the box hive in front, which 

 the new one does not cover. (See illustration). It 

 is best not to close up the opening in front to a 

 small entrance, unless the apiary is large or rob- 

 bers bad; for the queen would then occupy more 

 of the old comb, and delay the establishing of 

 the brood-nest in the new hive, which she should 

 do as soon as the foundation is sufficiently drawn 

 out. After all the box hives in the apiary have 

 been thus treated, and work is under headway in 

 the new hives, put on supers as fast as they are 



WILDER S METHOD OF TRANSFERRING FROM BO.\' HIVES. 



needed, so the queens will not be crowded out of 

 their new quarters. 



An apiary in this condition can be operated for 

 honey or increase, and better stock can be intro- 

 duced at the same time, and at the close of the 

 season or late in the fall all the bees should be 

 driven up, and the new hives set down on bot- 

 tom-boards. If any bees remain in the box hives 

 they should be jarred in front of the new hives, 

 and the old hives set a few steps away. As soon 

 as the bees remove all the honey from these old 

 hives they should be taken away and the comb 

 rendered into beeswax. At this time of the sea- 

 son there is little if any brood lost. 



If colonies in box hives are weak at the time of 

 transferring, it is best to unite several of them, 

 which can best be done by preparing one hive as 

 above for every two or three hives to be united. 

 Then all colonies should be disturbed so the bees 

 will fill themselves with honey, and cluster on 

 some part of the hives, when they may be dump- 

 ed into the one prepared for them. 



I have been troubled but little with swarming 

 in apiaries managed in this way, and the colonies 

 have not failed to harvest a good crop of honey 

 when seasons were favorable. 



Cordele, Ga. 



[In most localities a steady honey-flow could 

 not be relied upon, and robbing would surely 

 begin during the first honey dearth, if the combs 

 at the bottom of the old hive were left exposed. 

 In such cases we would advise the Heddon short 

 method — viz , drumming two-thirds of the bees 

 up into a box placed on top. — Ed.] 



