62 



necessary that they should be inserted in the pre'cise order in 

 which they hung in the old hives ; the operator should rather 

 place them in the most suitable positions, having regard to the 

 condition of each frame. If on examining the hive on the next 

 morning, it is found that the queen has been accepted by the 

 united stock, the reserve queen may be destroyed. 



To unite a swarm to a stock in a bar-frame hive ; first subdue 

 the bees in the bar-frame hive (65), then 

 134. XTniting a taking each frame by itself, jerk the bees 

 Swarm to a Stock off into an iron bucket or some other suit- 

 in a Bar-frame able vessel, dust with flour (132) any bees 

 Hive. left on the frames or in the hive, and 



all the bees that have been removed 

 from the frames, revolving the bucket containing them so as 

 to expose all the bees to the dusting operation ; treat the 

 swarm similarly ; then throw one lot of bees into the other, 

 shake them up, and throw the entire lot on a hiving-board 

 placed in position against the bar-frame hive (75) . If both the 

 swarm and the stock have queens, one of the queens should be 

 removed (151) before the bees are united ; this should prefer- 

 ably be done from twelve to twenty -four hours before uniting, so 

 that the bees may have ascertained that they are queenless and 

 therefore the more readily accept the queen of the stock to 

 which they are to be united. If necessary, additional frames 

 should be provided for the extra bees. 



135. Tlniting a Stock To unite a stock in a fixed comb hive to 

 in a Fixed Comb a stock in a bar-frame hive, first drive the 

 Hive to a Stock in bees from the fixed comb hive (82) , then 

 a Bar-frame Hive, proceed as described in paragraph (134) . 



136 Unitine- two '^^ unite two stocks that are in fixed 



•Jtnrir. tliat arp in ^^^^ "^^^^^ ^^^^ <^""^*^ ^°^ ^^°^^ ^^^' ^^^ ' 



V A r ^^ -a- then unite the driven bees as when uniting 



Jfixea tomb Hives. ^^^ swarms (132), then hive them (76). 



Always unite in the evening, after bees have ceased flying. If 



the bees that are to be united are short 



iQiy ■o«4«+= 4-« !,« of food they should receive some thin 

 1<J7. rouits to be .j . - ,,rTo\ j- j i 



V J ■ TT -J.- warm summer syrup (178), immediately 



observed in Unitinff i. e -i.- i- ""--y 



^ ^ before uniting operations are commenced. 



operations. rpjjjg j^^^y ^^ poured over the top bars 



and allowed to trickle down the frames, or 

 if the bees are in a combless skep the syrup may be sprinkled 

 over them. Bees whose honey saos are full, are not only 

 quieter on that account, but they will be more readily accepted 

 by the bees to which they are to be united. 



