192 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



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At Borodino, New York 



TRANSFERRING BEES. 



"In some frames which I have bought 

 the combs run from one frame to another 

 to such an extent that I can not get any of 

 them out without tearing them or the combs, 

 or both. Please give something in Glean- 

 ings regarding such a state of aflfairs." 



As I frequently receive letters of a similar 

 nature, it may be well to devote a little time 

 to this subject, even though it is a matter 

 which has often been written about, and 

 one found in practical books on bee culture. 

 Our questioner puts the matter of crooked 

 combs very strongly, for I have yet to see 

 that colony of bees whose combs are so very 

 crooked, or which run across the frames so 

 badly that they can not be utilized in trans- 

 ferring to other frames, and the frames they 

 were in at first remain fairly good after the 

 combs are cut from them, so that they can 

 receive the combs from the second colony 

 worked upon. 



The first thing necessary is to decide on 

 the time to do this work. My time has al- 

 ways been during the blossoming of the 

 apple trees, for at this season there is little 

 honey in the way, and the combs are not 

 very full of brood unless there is an earlier 

 yield of nectar. With the first flow of nec- 

 tar to a sufficient extent to attract the bees 

 into the fields in large numbers, and to en- 

 able them to secrete wax enough to fasten 

 the combs together, and to the frames, is 

 the right time. Drive the bees away from 

 the sides of the hive to which the combs 

 are attached, and with a long knife or chisel 

 cut these attachments so that nothing holds 

 to the hive save where the ends of the 

 frames rest. Next blow smoke enough over 

 the tops of the frames to drive the bees off. 

 Turn the hive bottom side up at once on an 

 old blanket. By this time the bees will 

 have become demoralized and quite well 

 filled with honey. Place a box over the 

 bottom of the hive, and give a few strokes 

 either with the fists or with some sticks. 

 The bees will at once proceed to run up into 

 the box, and in a few minutes all will cluster 

 there. 



This box of bees can then be set on the 

 old stand, the old hive lifted off the whole 

 mass of combs and frames, and the work of 

 cutting out the combs to the best advantage 

 and fitting all the worker comb into frames 

 can be started. When all are nicely fitted 

 into the new frames, and these frames put 

 in the old hive (if that is good enough to 

 use, or if not, in a new one) , this hive con- 

 taining those combs which are judged use- 

 ful should be set on the old stand, and the 

 bees from the box hived into it, the same 

 as is done in hiving a natural swarm. If 

 there is not sufficient comb to fill all the 

 frames the hive will hold, a division board 

 is placed next to the last comb put in (a bee 



space from it), and the colony kept thus 

 until a time comes when they will work 

 foundation, when frames of foundation are 

 inserted in the vacant space. Or if one 

 happens to have empty combs in frames of 

 the same size, this vacant space can be filled 

 with these at the time of transferring. 

 This is similar to the way our fathers trans- 

 ferred, and the jilan used at the great field- 

 day meeting in .June, 1906, near Philadel- 

 phia, by Prof. Surface who demonstrated 

 before the thousands gathered there at that 

 time. 



But there is another way which I consider 

 fully as good, if not better, for modern bee- 

 keeping. This latter plan allows the bee- 

 keeper to wait till nectar is coming in quite 

 abundantly, or till about the time the bees 

 swarm naturally, when a new hive with a 

 full set of frames filled with comb founda- 

 tion is prepared the same as if hiving a 

 natural swarm on frames filled in this way. 

 This new hive is set on the stand of the 

 colony w^hich is to be transferred, and most 

 of the bees and the queen are driven into a 

 box as before, only the hive and combs are 

 not disturbed by cutting or otherwise. After 

 the queen and about two-thirds of the bees 

 are in the box, the old hive is removed to a 

 new stand, and the bees are hived from the 

 box into this new hive as before. They will 

 at once draw out the foundation in the 

 frames, and the hive will soon be complete- 

 ly filled M'ith the very best worker combs 

 possible, and a good colony for securing sur- 

 plus honey. In 21 days in the old hive with 

 crooked combs will be a young queen about 

 to begin to lay, or already doing so. The 

 worker brood will have emerged from their 

 cells, and every thing will be in shape for 

 another transfer. The process is the same 

 as the first, except that now all the bees are 

 driven off their combs and hived in another 

 new hive, prepared as was the first. We 

 now have these old crooked combs where 

 we can do what we please with them, while 

 the bees are all on (or will be as soon as the 

 foundation is drawn) the very best all 

 straight worker combs, such as make the 

 eyes of any apiarist sparkle with delight. 



Now, what shall be done with these old 

 crooked combs? Some say dump the whole 

 thing into the solar wax extractor, and let 

 the sun separate the combs from the frames 

 and the wax from the honey, as all can then 

 be used to better advantage than in any 

 other way. Without question, this is the 

 easiest way out; but some way the heart of 

 the one who commenced his beekeeping 

 life between .30 and 50 years ago, before the 

 advent of comb foundation, when every 

 inch of worker comb was considered very 

 valuable, still considers such comb of more 

 worth than the wax it contains, therefore 

 he generally fits all of the best of it into 

 frames for use again. 



