3t 



IX.— TEANSFBEEING BEES FEOM A FIXED COMB 

 HIVE TO A BAE-FEAME HIVE. 



A method of transferring which is often adopted, that of cutting 

 out the combs, fixing them in frames with 



85. Transferring tape and wire, and transferring bees and 

 Comb and Bees from comb thus to a bar-frame hive is not re- 

 Fixvd Comb Hive to commended. It is very troublesome to 



Bar-frame Hive, carry out, is likely to cause much loss of 

 brood, and is almost certain to result in 

 haying a lot of frames with old and misshapen comb that 

 should be discarded. 



The best time to transfer a stock from a fixed comb hive is , when 

 the stock is so strong that the bees would 



86. Transferring probably soon swarm if left alone (92) ; 

 Bees from a Fixed the sooner the transfer is effected after 



Comb Hive to a that period, the better ; therefore the stock 

 Bar-frame Hive, that is to be transferred should be pushed 

 forward as much as possible by stimulative 

 feeding (106). To stimulate the stock in the fixed comb hive, 

 a feeSer should be fixed on the top of the box or skep contain- 

 ing it, a cheap pattern feeder (89) would serve the purpose very 

 well ; the feeder should be secured in position by wires , and 

 protected from the weather by a covering-box or skep ; if the 

 stock is in a pointed topped skep , a slice may be cut off the top 

 of the skep, leaving a hole about an inch wide over which the 

 feeder may be placed. Prepare a stand (69) for the bar-frame 

 hive. If the new hive is to be placed on the site of the old one, 

 a good plan to follow is to move the old stock two yards straight 

 to the front of its old position, and then to provide a stand for 

 the new hive on the site of the old one. If it is desired to place 

 the new hive at some distance from the site of the old one, the 

 removal of the old one should be carried out some time in ad- 

 vance as described in paragraph 182. When the fixed comb 

 hive is strong in bees, with combs well covered, which may be 

 ascertained by lifting and examining it (87) early in the morn- 

 ing or late in the evening without subduing the bees with smoke 

 or carbolic cloth , prepare the bar-frame hive as for receiving a 

 swarm (75), except that the number of frames to be given is 

 five, and these should contain empty drawn-out worker comb, 

 if such frames are available ; if some only, but not all , the 

 frames required can be supplied filled with empty comb, place 

 the frames containing foundation in the centre ; push all frames 

 to the front with the dummy, and in the space behind the 

 dummy place empty frames, or cover the space with a half-inch 

 board, the top of which should lie flush with the tops of the bar 

 frames (95). Fit a quilt of American cloth, glazed side down, 

 over the frames ; if American cloth is not available , an 

 ordinary quilt will do ; in it cut two parallel slits each 

 6 inches long, midway between the sides, one being 



