GETTING STARTED WITH BEES 89 



housekeeping above and simply use the new 

 hive to store their honey. 



Formerly it was a common practice to 

 transfer bees by cutting out the combs from the 

 old hive and tying them into the frames. The 

 bees w^ould fasten the combs to the frames and 

 remove the strings. Such combs, however, are 

 never very satisfactory and the plan is not to be 

 recommended generally. There are times 

 when bees are to be removed from the side of a 

 building or hollow tree or other position where 

 they are not readily accessible, when this 

 method is necessary. In most cases it will be 

 advisable to substitute new combs or full 

 sheets of foundation, and to melt up the trans- 

 ferred combs after the bees are established in 

 the new hive. 



Time to Start. — In the Northern States 

 the best time to begin beekeeping is in spring. 

 When fruit trees are blooming is a good time. 

 The bees can then find plenty of stores from 



