1872.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



181 



posit eggs ill worker cells, a portion of which, 

 gradually increasing in number, will produce 

 drones. She is almost certain to do this largely, 

 if the period of superannuation happens to be 

 in .May or June : — The supply of spermatazoa 

 in the spcnnatheca of such a queen being nearly 

 exhausted, many of her eggs, though laid in 

 worker cells, pass without impregnation. That 

 such queens are unconscious of impotence in 

 this regard, while they may have a foreboding of 

 their impending fate, is evident from their con- 

 tinued oviposition in worker cells exclusively. — 

 [Ed. 



> — * 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Transferring Bees. 



There are, all through our country, great 

 numbers of bees still in box hives, and some 

 even in the old-fashioned hollow log, which, by 

 the way, is just as good, or a little better. 

 Many of our people have not yet discovered that 

 to make beekeeping pay, the bees must be in 

 movable comb hives. But they are waking up, 

 not only to the importance of bee-culture, but to 

 the necessity of having their bees under com- 

 plete control. 



Those who are not informed on the subject, 

 regard it as a very formidable undertaking to 

 transfer a colony of bees, stores and all, from 

 an old hive to a new one ; but those who have 

 experience in it, find it unattended with diffi- 

 culty. To be able to do it in the easiest manner, 

 however, is quite an accomplishment in the bee- 

 keepers' art ; and knowledge and skill have not 

 yet made such advancement that improvement 

 may not be made by the interchange of experi- 

 ment and observation. And, with your permis- 

 sion, Mr. Editor, I will give some of the results 

 of my little experience. 



After trying nearly everything recommended 

 for holding combs in place until the bees fasten 

 them in frames. I have fallen back upon slender 

 strips of wood held in place by wire. The strips 

 should be made of tough straight-grained wood, 

 and should be a little more than an eighth of an 

 inch square. They should be long enough to 

 reach a little above and a little below the frames, 

 and have a notch in each end to receive the 

 wires. Tougli wire should be used, stiff enough 

 to hold the sticks somewhat firmly, and yet not 

 too stiff to be easily wrapped around the ends of 

 the sticks. The wires should be cut about three 

 inches long ; half of the sticks should be counted 

 out and a wire attached to each end of each 

 stick, by two or three turns of the wire around 

 it, in the notch, and then they are ready for use. 



I use a transfer board, having blocks nailed 

 on it to hold the frames in place while the comb 

 is being filled in. It has also grooves to receive 

 the sticks, which are to be fastened on the lower 

 side of the frame as it lies on the transfer board. 

 My frames being only twelve inches wide, I use 

 two pairs of sticks to each frame. When every 

 thing is ready, I lay down two of the sticks 

 having the wires on them, in the grooves of the 



transfer board, and lay the frame over them. 

 The frame is prevented from getting out of place 

 by the small block, nailed to the board. Having 

 cut out a piece of comb of suitable size, I lay it 

 on the frame, or, if not too wide, put the upper 

 edge within the frame, pressing it against the 

 under side of the top bar, and with a sharp 

 knife trim the projecting edges of the comb, so 

 that it can be forced down into the frame. This 

 is much better than to lay the comb on the 

 board and after having marked and trimmed it, 

 spring the frame over it. It is quicker and 

 more easily done, and there is less danger of 

 injuring the comb. When the comb is in place, 

 I lay two sticks having no wires attached, im- 

 mediately over the two that are under the comb, 

 wrap the ends of the wires around them, and 

 raising up one end of the transfer board to 

 bring the frame to a perpendicular position, put 

 it into the hive. 



Unless a hive is very populous, and the 

 weather warm, I do not take the trouble to drive 

 the bees out before transferring the combs. I 

 smoke them pretty well before removing them 

 from the old stand, giving them time to fill them- 

 selves with honey. I then carry the hive to a 

 convenient place, set it down bottom upward, 

 drive the bees down with smoke, and with a cold 

 chisel cut the nails, and take off one side of the 

 hive, so as to expose the combs to the best ad- 

 vantage. The tools needed, besides hatchet and 

 cold chisel, are a long-bladed carving knife and 

 a three-eighth inch iron rod having at one end 

 a steel blade bent at a right angle, and about 

 one inch and a half long fron) the angle to the 

 point ; and at the other end a handle such as is 

 used for small chisels. This tool is about twenty 

 inches long. It is used for cutting off combs 

 which cannot be conveniently reached with a 

 knife. 



Four or five heads of broom corn tied securely 

 and firmly together, are better than anything 

 else 1 have tried, for brushing bees from the 

 combs. 



After placing the first comb in the new hive, 

 I brush all the bees on combs subsequently cut 

 out into it, that they may cluster on any brood 

 it may contain. AVhen all the combs are in the 

 new hive, I shake the remaining bees down in 

 front of it, let them go in, and then place it on 

 the old stand. It is well alw.ays to place an 

 empty hive, or a box of some kind, containing 

 a piece of comb from the hive, on the old stand 

 to receive and retain the returning bees, until 

 the work is done. It is better that the comb 

 contain unsealed brood. 



I have transferred bees in March and in No- 

 vember, and in nearly every month between, 

 and have never had them do otherwise than 

 well. I have had less ti'ouble with robbers in 

 March and in October and November, than in 

 May and June. It is not a good plan to transfer 

 many colonies on the same day, unless it can be 

 done in a house that will exclude robbers, as all 

 the bees in the neighborhood will, after awhile, 

 be attracted by the exposed honey. 



M. Mahin. 



New Castle, Ind., Dec. 23, 1871. 



