1896. 



TJIE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



115 



sufRcieut to show that the latter fur- 

 nish an abundance of pollen, to say 

 the least. These bulbs can now be 

 obtained for a triile, and as they die to 

 the ground after blooming, the space 

 can later on be filled with annuals, 

 while their bright faces, sparkling 

 with the drops of the melting snows, 

 are ever welcome harbingers of spring. 



Transferring, 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLK. 



A correspondent writes, that he 

 wishes I would tell him, through the 

 columns of the American Bee-Keeper, 

 how to transfer bees from box hives 

 to movable frame hives, as he has 

 purchased some bees in box hives 

 which he wishes to transfer in the 

 spring. The first requisite is to make 

 some holes at the proper distance 

 through the center of the sides, top 

 and bottom bars of the frames, con- 

 tained in the movable frame hives. 

 These holes should be made with an 

 awl or fine bit of the right size to take 

 wire nails one and one-half inches in 

 length. I make about three holes 

 through each part of the frame, or 

 twelve holes to each frame. Our 

 correspondent says he wishes to trans- 

 fer his bees in the spring. Bees can 

 be transferred by a skillful hand at 

 any time of the year, but for the un- 

 skilled there are only two really fav- 

 orable times for transferring. The 

 first is during fruit or apple bloom, 

 and the second is twenty-one days af- 

 ter the first or prime swarm issues. If 

 done in fruit bloom, comparitively 

 little brood and honey is in the way, 

 while honey is coming in to prevent 

 robbing, as well as to enable bees to 

 rapidly repair their combs. If done 

 twenty-one days after swarming, there 



will be no brood in the hives except a 

 little drone brood, so there will be no 

 loss from cutting through it, as all the 

 eggs laid by the old queen will now 

 be hatched, while the young queen 

 will only just be laying. Besides hav- 

 ing the frame and nails ready, aboard 

 about two feet square will he neces- 

 sary, and a barrel or box of conveni- 

 ent height for the operator, to place 

 the board upon. On one side of the 

 board should be tacked two or three 

 thicknesses of cloth, stretched out 

 straight and tight, so that the brood 

 and combs will not be injured by 

 placing them upon it, if you are not 

 always careful in handling. Having 

 these things in readiness, together 

 with a long bladed knife, proceed to 

 the hive and blow a few pufEs of smoke 

 in at the entrance to alarm the bees, 

 when the box hive is to be turned 

 bottom side up and the frame hive 

 placed on the stand the box hive oc- 

 cupied. Blow a little more smoke 

 over the exposed bottoms of the combs, 

 and place the cap to the hive, or any 

 suitable box, over the bottom of the 

 hive, a little to one side, for the bees 

 ta craw'l into. It is often said that 

 the box must fit so tightly that no bee 

 can get out, and after having such a 

 fit made, the bees must be drummed 

 up into it by pounding upon the sides 

 of the hive with small sticks; but I 

 find that the tight joint is unnecessary 

 and that all the drumming required is 

 done by splitting the old hive apart, 

 preparatory to cutting the combs out. 

 Select the side of the hive to which 

 the combs run parallel, if possible, and 

 proceed to pry off the side of the hive, 

 using a cold chisel to cut the nails if 

 necessary. If there are cross sticks 

 through the center of the hive, these 



