GETTING THE BEES—Chapter V. 
First, a little smoke should 
be blown into the entrance of 
the box hive or “gum,” after 
which it is lifted off its stand 
and a modern hive put in its 
place. The old hive should 
now be turned upside down, 
the bottom (if there be a bot- 
tom) removed and smoke 
blown down between the 
combs, and the extra box 
; P : (above referred to) placed 
Combs in a box ae ane Pun cane eee and often over it. The operator should 
now drum vigorously on the 
outside of the box hive with sticks or clubs, keeping this up until all or near- 
ly all the bees have crawled up into the empty box that has been placed on 
top. The bees that have now gathered in this box should be emptied in front 
of the entrance of the new hive as in hiving a swarm (see page 67). If the 
bees do not readily enter the new hive, it is well to gently brush or smoke 
them toward the entrance. To prevent robbing, the old “gum” or beehive 
should now he taken into a bee-tight building or a bee-tent placed over it for 
the rest of the work unless there are no other colonies of bees in the neigh- 
borhood, in which case the work can be done outside. One side of the old box 
hive or “gum” is now removed, first cutting the comb loose from the side 
to be removed, when the best and largest of the combs are cut out with 
the long-bladed knife. The next problem is to cut the best of the pieces 
of comb (by best are meant those which are regular and straight and contain 
almost entirely worker-cells or worker-brood), so they will fit tightly in the 
empty frames that are at hand and ready. To accomplish this, first cut 
several pieces of string 
long enough to tie around 
a frame and lay them 
across a board or hive- 
cover provided for this 
purpose; then lay a slab 
of comb or pieces of comb 
fitted together on the 
board or hive-cover above 
the strings, and lay over 
it the empty frame. The 
knife is now drawn along 
next to the inside of the 
frame, marking its exact 
size and shape on the 
comb. The frame is then 
lifted off and the comb 
trimmed to the required 
size and: fitted into the 
frame. Care should be Transferring a colony of bees from a box hive to a 
modern movable-frame hive. Even womankind can 
taken to cut the comb undergo the ordeal. 
28 
