COMMENCING BEE-KEEPING. 



89 



Fig, 69. 

 DltlVING IKONS. 



J 



touching: above the ends of two cen- 

 tral combs (Fig-. 68). At that 

 point push in the skewer (Fig. 69) 

 through the edges of both skeps to 

 hold them together, and stay up the 

 empty skep by the other irons, the 

 points being pushed into the sides 

 of the skeps. These irons are from 

 IS" to 18" long. Two laths, with 

 nails driven through the ends, and 

 a skewer of hard wood, may be 

 made to serve the purpose. With the opening between the 

 skeps in front of you, so that you may observe all that occurs, 

 rap the sides of the lower skep sharply with the palms of your 

 hands, or with two sticks, taking care that while jarring the 

 combs slightly you do not loose or break them down. Carry 

 on the rapping continuously at the rate of about two per second. 

 The bees will speedily run up past the skewer into the upper 

 skep, and if a cjueen be there, careful watching will discover her 

 passing up. " Close Driving," which is necessary in inclement 

 weather, consists in fastening the skeps together edge to edge, 

 tying a cloth round them, and driving as above ; but close 

 driving does not permit one to watch the progress of the opera- 

 tion, nor to see the queen going up. Driving, whether open 

 or close, may usually be completed 

 in about a quarter of an hour. In 

 unfavourable weather, and if there 

 be little honey in the skep, it will be 

 an assistance to sprinkle the combs 

 and bees with warm, thin syrup (Re- 

 cipe 321) five or ten minutes before 

 driving (181). Colgan's Driving 

 Box (Fig. 70), which was first ex- 

 Iiibited at the Armagh Show of 1903, 

 by Mr. William Colgan, supplies the 

 places of skep, irons, and swarm 

 carrier. It is a box, 11" x 11* x 9", 

 with a fast top and a sliding bottom. 

 An iron skewer at the back, moving 

 IB two staples, and two pointed iron 

 rods on the sides, working on 

 pivots, hold the box in position upon 

 the skep from which the driving is 

 to take place. The irons, when not 

 in use, fold up on the box. On the 

 lid is a brass handle, and inside at 

 the top is an arrangement for fasten- 



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Fig. 70. 

 OOLGAN'S DRIYING 



