220 Transferring Bees. 
We set the old hive aside for twenty-one days, when 
the young bees will all come from the cells. Should the 
weather be cold, it might be well to put this in a warm 
room,,.so the brood will not chill. At the time of swarm- 
ing this will rarely be necessary. We now drum out these 
bees as before, kill the queen, which has been reared, and 
unite the bees with the others, or form a separate colony 
as before, as the number of bees determines. We can now 
split out the corners of the old hive, split the gum, or sep- 
arate the staves of the barrel, so as not to break the comb. 
This should be carefully cut loose, and the honey extracted 
by use of the wire comb-holder (Fig. 107), and the comb- 
melted into wax for foundation. The only loss in this 
method is the time which the bees require to draw out the 
foundation, and this is far more than made up in the 
superior combs which are secured. I think the time 
expended in melting up the combs, etc., is more than made 
up by the time saved in transferring. 
THE OLD METHOD. 
lf one has no foundation, or desires to give the bees the 
comb and honey at once, even at the cost of unshapely 
combs, he then should drum the bees out as before, on a 
warm day when the bees are busy at work, and put the 
box containing the bees on the old stand, leaving the edge 
raised so that the bees which are out may enter, and so all 
the bees can get air. This method is difficult, except in 
early spring, and is best done about noon, when the bees 
are busy on the fruit bloom. It is not safe to transfer ona 
hot day when bees are idle, as the risks from robbing are 
too great. If other bees do not trouble, as they usually 
will not if busily gathering, we can proceed in the open 
air. If they do, we must go into some room. I have fre- 
quently transferred the comb in my kitchen, and often 
im a barn. Now knock the old hive apart, as already 
described, cut the combs from the sides, and get the combs 
out of the old hive with just as little breakage as possible. 
Mr. Baldbridge, if transferring in spring, saws the combs 
and cross-sticks loose from the sides, turns the hive into 
the natural position, then strikes against the top of the 
