March, 1921 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



141 



I renieiiilxM- in paitit'ul;tr liow one old-time 

 box-hive man told some two dozen other 

 box-hivers who were present that his "pat- 

 ent gums" produced 150 pounds of honey 

 each, and how he actually took all this 

 honey without brinistoning and without get- 

 ting a sting. That was an eye-opener. 

 How Sams Does It. 

 He selects a clear space on level ground, 

 and aslvs the bvstanders to form a circle 



tent he drums still more, after which he 

 carefully 4ifts it with its adhering bees. 

 This he gently sets over the hive, so that 

 the cluster comes in the open space between 

 the frames as shown in Fig. 4. The center 

 frames are, of course, removed before this 

 is done. 



If the drumming has been done prop- 

 erly, there will be left only a few bees 

 clinging to the combs in the gum. Mr. Sams 



Fig. 3. — Another method uf removing bees from a 



gum by dnmpiii'j;- them on the. ground with one 



sharp bump. Tliis is not so satisfactory as the 



drumminsj method shown in Fig. 2. 



around it. In the center of this iuclosure he 

 places the box hives or gums to be trans- 

 ferred, and modern hives each containing 

 tive or six frames of foundation. He turns 

 the box hive upside down, blows smoke into 

 the bottom, which is now the top (see Fig. 

 1). He then takes the super-cover or inner 

 cover of the modern hive and sets it over 

 tlie gum. He begins a vigorous drummiuir 



Fig. 5. — After the bees are drummed out, a com- 

 mon handsaw is altogether the best tool for cutting 

 the combs away from the sides of the box. 



formerly used a box into which to drum the 

 bees; but he says it is not always easy to 

 find one of the right size. Moreover, he 

 claims the super-cover is just as good, if 

 not better, and, what is of considerable im- 

 portance, it is right at hand. 



The next step is to get the old combs 

 out of the gum or box hive, especially those 

 containing brood. For that purpose Mr. 

 Sams savs a common liamisaw in the case 



Fig. 1. — After dnimminj;-, tlit- bees crawl upwiird 

 and cluster on tlie super cover. This i.s gently placed 

 ini the new hive, after which the operation of trans- 

 ferring the combs begins. 



with a hammer — not heavy lilows, but a 

 series of light blows applied to all four 

 sides of the old box or gum (see Fig. 2). 

 This is kept up for perhaps three or four 

 minutes. He next lifts the super cover 

 slightly to .see if the bees are clustering under 

 it. If they have not come up yet to any ex- 



Fig. 6. — In the case of the rdiiiul ;;uiiis or logs, it 



i.s necessary to use a keyhole or narrow saw, which 



is run clear around the inside of the log, cutting 



the cross-sticks. 



of a box hive is altogether the best fool 

 one can use (see Fig. 5). It is better than 

 a knife, because it enables one to saw off 

 the cross-sticks. A' saw is better, also, be- 

 cause it cuts the combs better and cleaner 

 than a knife, without breaking thetn. 



When transferring from a round gum or 



