ISO 



THE AMERICAX BEE-KEEPER 



October 



Uniting Bees. 



(G. M. Doolittle.) 



QUESTION:— I think I have seen 

 somewhere that it is best to 

 unite weak colonies of bees for 

 wintering, but cannot turn to the mat- 

 ter now that I wish to. Will you 

 please tell us in the American Bee- 

 Keeper how to unite two or more weak 

 colonies so that they may be strong 

 enough for winter? I have some small 

 colonies which I wish to put together 

 this fall; and as I consider myself only 

 a beginner in bee-keeping, any advice 

 would be acceptable to me. 



Answer: — It is a very proper thing to 

 do always, to unite two or more weak 

 colonies of bees for winter; for two 

 weak colonies, kept separate, will con- 

 sume nearly twice the stores that both 

 together would united, and very likely 

 perish before spring; while if put to- 

 gether, they would winter as well as 

 any good colony. A good way to pro- 

 ceed is as follows: If one of the col- 

 onies has a queen known to be feeble, 

 or inferior in any way, hunt her out 

 and kill her, so that the best queen 

 may survive; otherwise pay no atten- 

 tion to the queens, for one of them will 

 soon be killed after the uniting. Or if 

 both have good queens, (and it is not 

 too late in the season), and you have 

 any colony having an inferior queen, it 

 is well to hunt out the inferior queen 

 and introduce this better one in her 

 place, rather than kill her, for, in this 

 way, you will have a good queen in this 

 last colony next spring, instead of a 

 poor one. 



It is well to look toward improve- 

 ment at all times, when we can do it to 

 advantage. Having the queen matter 

 disposed of. go to the colonics you wish 

 to unite, and blow smoke quite freely 

 in at the entrance, pounding on the top 

 of the hive at the same time with the 

 doubled up fi.st, a stick of wood or a 

 light mallet. When both have been 

 treated in this way, go to the first 

 again, and afterward to the second, 

 treating as before, when the one to be 

 moved from its stand is put on a wheel- 

 barrow and wheeled rapidly to where 

 the one it is to be united with stands. 

 This smoking and pounding causes the 

 bees to think som'ething quite seriou:; 

 is happening and tends to make them 

 mark their location on their first flight 



afterward, so that it helps to keep them 

 from returning to their old stand. Hav- 

 ing both close together select out the 

 combs from both hives which contain 

 the most honey, and come the nearest 

 to filling the frames, (should any frames 

 be only partly filled), setting these well- 

 filled frames into one hive, and that, 

 the one which occupies the stand the 

 united colony is to occupy. In thus set- 

 ting in the combs it is always best to 

 alternate the frames, whereby the bees 

 are so mixed up that they have no de- 

 sire for fight, for each bee touched by 

 another is a stranger; the bees thus 

 uniting as peacably as do two swarms 

 when they come together, as they of- 

 ten do in swarming time, when two go 

 together and cluster on one limb. Af- 

 ter the hive is filled, arrange the quilt 

 or honey board and put on the cover. 

 Next put a wide board or sheet in 

 front of the hive, fixing so it leads up to 

 the entrance, and proceed to shake the 

 bees ofif the remaining frames, taking 

 first a frame from one of the colonies 

 and the next from the other, thus mix- 

 ing these shaken bees as were those on 

 the frames set in the hives. After all 

 the bees have run in the hive, set a wide 

 board up in front of the same, stanching 

 it up sloping over the entrance, so that 

 the next time the bees fly they will be 

 compelled to fly against it, or crawl out 

 around it. thus giving them an addi- 

 tional caution to mark their location 

 on their first flighl^afterward. 



We cannot guard too closely about 

 those having been moved going back • 

 to their old home. As =;aid before, the 

 smoking, pounding, wheeling and mix- 

 ing of the bees, all have a tendency to 

 cause the bees to look after their loca- 

 cation, and the wide board helps also 

 in this direction. Then, if in addition 

 to this, all relics of the old hive are re- 

 moved, so there will be nothing home- 

 like about the old location to entice 

 them back, scarcely a single bee wnll at- 

 tempt to go back there to stay. 



Put the remaining combs away in 

 some safe place for the next season's 

 use. and the work is done. If this unit- 

 ing is done near the evening or on 

 some cool, cloudy day. and the bees 

 are caused to fill themselves thorough- 

 ly with honey, very few will fly away in 

 the uniting process. 



Borodir.o. N. Y.. Sept. 2. 1902. 



