THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



313 



brood-combs full of honey ; return the 

 chatf until time to put the sections 

 CD ; and then co home tired but 

 strengthened. Ave enjoy the trip 

 more than if we had been to a picnic. 



If we got no pay for bee-work, I 

 fear it would after awhile become 

 insipid and tiresome, but the honey- 

 such piles of honey that always re- 

 ward faithful work with the bee— 

 seldom fails us, and what to be de- 

 sired more even than honey is the 

 cash that it brings to do good with. 

 It is a real luxury— a luxury worth 

 living and laboring for. Those of us 

 who have learned to love God for all 

 he has done for us, and what we ex- 

 pect to receive in the future, do not 

 or ought not rest content to enjoy this 

 knowledge alone, while there are 

 millions of our fellow beings who 

 have no knowledge of Him who made 

 them, and are groping through this 

 world in midnight darkness. I say it 

 is a real luxury to have the where- 

 with to do a little for such people, 

 and hope many of our brothers and 

 sisters in bee-culture are also enjoy- 

 ing this blessed privilege. 



Koseville,-o Ills. 



[*It is all right to say " our " when 

 there is a partnership, of course ; but 

 the clerk who prepared your letter 

 for the press, knew nothing of your 

 family history or connubial partner- 

 ship. If you had slipped in the 

 words, " My husband and I are the 

 apiarists," all would have been plain. 

 —Ed.] 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Transferring Bees from Box-Hives. 



W. W. BENTON. 



Mr. Editor :— I wish you would 

 give us a good method of transferring 

 bees from old box-hives to frame 

 hives. I have been looking for such 

 an article for some time. Please do 

 not refer us to printed books, but 

 give it in detail in the American 

 Bee .Journal, for the benefit of its 

 new subscribers. 



Newry.O Pa., May 3, 1887. 



[The best time to transfer bees 

 from the common to movable-frame 

 hives is about the season of swarm- 

 ing, though it may be done on any 

 warm afternoon, when the bees are 

 actively at work. 



A transferring board about the size 

 of the frame should be prepared in 

 advance, by making grooves of about 

 }4 an inch wide and }-4 of an inch 

 deep, and about 2 inches apart. The 

 spaces between these grooves should 

 be cushioned with several thicknesses 

 of cloth, to prevent the brood from 

 bing injured when the comb is laid 

 upon it. 



Transferring sticks should be pre- 

 pared from some light, tough wood, 



about }i inch longer than the frames 

 are deep, and about M of an inch 

 square. Fasten two of these sticks 

 together with a piece of fine annealed 

 wire, so as to leave about one inch of 



Wired Sticks fur Transferring. 



space between them ; attach a piece 

 of wire to the other end of one of the 

 sticks, to be used in fastening when 

 placed around the frame of comb. A 

 small notch should be cut to admit 

 the wire, and prevent slipping. These 

 sticks should be made in pairs, and 

 be kept ready for use. 



After smoking the bees at the en- 

 trance of a box-hive, remove it some 

 distance from the old stand, leaving 

 an empty hive or box in its place, to 

 receive the bees that return from the 

 fields ; invert the hive, place an empty 

 box or hive over it, of the same size 

 and shape, wrapping a sheet or cloth 



Transferring Board. 



around where they come together,' 

 leaving no cracks large enough for a 

 bee to escape. By gently tapping the 

 hive for some time, most of the bees, 

 with the queen, will enter the upper 

 box. When they have nearly all left 

 the hive, place the upper box with the 

 bees on the old stand. Being alarmed 

 and filled with honey, they may be 

 handled without fear. 



The old hive may now be removed 

 to a convenient room or building and 

 taken to pieces, by cutting off the 

 nails with a cold-chisel and prying off 



Frame of Tratisferred Comb. 



the end, cutting the combs when 

 taken out as near as possible to the 

 size of the frames to be used. The 

 transferring board should be placed 

 upon a table or box, to be in a con- 

 venient position for working over it. 



The pieces of combs containing 

 honey may be placed at one side till 

 some with brood are found ; this 

 should be put upon the transferring 

 board, so that when the frame is 

 placed in position over it, the brood 

 may be nearly in the same position as 

 it occupied in the old hive, and near 

 the top of the frame, as that will be 

 the warmest position in the hive. 

 With a honey-knife cut these combs 

 to make them fit. If more Jire wanted 

 to fill the frame, use the combs of 

 honey first removed from the hive. 

 Then push the ends of the sticks, 

 that have no wire attached, through 

 the grooves, from the bottom of the 

 frames, where the combs may need 

 support ; the other sticks attached, 

 place on the top of the comb, and 

 fasten the ends together at the top of 

 the frame, to match the fastenings 

 below. Place this frame in the hive, 

 and proceed in the same manner with 

 the next brood-comb, and let it occupy 

 the adjoining position in the hive, 

 giving the frames containing honey 

 the outside position on either side. 

 The honey from pieces of comb not 

 used, and especially from all drone 

 comb, should be removed with the 

 extractor. 



Carry the new hive to the old stand, 

 and empty the bees out of the box on 

 a sheet, in front of the hive. See that 

 the queen, as well as all the bees, 

 enter it. To prevent robbing, the 

 entrance should be contracted ; and in 

 two or three days, when the bees 

 have fastened the combs, the trans- 

 ferring sticks should be removed. 

 Always work slowly with the bees, 

 and avoid jarring. 



As several have asked to have Mr. 

 Ileddon's plan of transferring re- 

 peated, we give it below : 



About swarming time I take one of 

 my Laugstroth hives containing 8 

 frames of foundation, and with 

 smoker in hand. 1 approach the hive 

 to be transferred. First, I drive the 

 old queen and a majority of the bees 

 into my hiving-box. I then remove 

 the old hive a few feet backward, re- 

 versing the entrance, placing the new 

 one in its place, and run in the forced 

 swarm. In two days I find 8 new 

 straight combs with every cell worker, 

 and containing a good start of brood. 

 Twenty-one days after the transfer, I 

 drive the old hive clean of all its bees, 

 uniting them with the former drive, 

 and put on the boxes, if they are not 

 already on. If there is any nectar in 

 the flowers, the colony will show you 

 comb honey. About the queens : I 

 usually kill the forced queen as the 

 bees run in. 



I run them together as I would one 

 colony in two parts. Now to the old 



