160 THE BEE-KEEPER IN AUTUMN. 



round top) where it is firmly secured. An empty 

 skep is then fastened to it, as you see in the illustra- 

 tion, and the operator, with both his hands, or two 

 short thick pieces of wood, begins to rap upon the 

 outside of the hive, giving steady blows, sufficient to 

 jar the combs without any danger of breaking them. 



This goes on for a few minutes, when the bees 

 become in a state of great agitation, and are seen 

 crowding up to the place where the two hives are 

 joined together. Then in a few moments more they 

 begin to run up into the empty hive, and very soon 

 are rushing up in hundreds with the greatest haste. 

 And now the sharp-sighted operator will see, and, if 

 wanted, be able to capture the queen herself, as, amidst 

 her subjects, she joins in the general rush. 



Well, but what is the use of driving ? As I have 

 said, it is of no use with frame-hives, but with skeps 

 it is often very useful. In the first place, it is a 

 means by which the honey can be obtained from a 

 skep without killing the bees. And then, amongst 

 other uses, it is the means by which in spring-time 

 skeps can be made to give swarms when and how the 

 bee-keeper wishes ; and in autumn it is invaluable in 

 the saving of much precious bee- life, for if the bee- 

 keeper has any neighbours who still cling to the old- 

 fashioned plan of destroying their bees for the sake of 

 the honey, he will persuade them, instead of using 

 the sulphur -pit, to allow him to drive the bees, 

 and to take them home, to join with the bees in 

 his own apiary. He will sometimes even preserve these 

 rescued bees in hives of their own, giving them comb and 

 food, in place of what they had gathered for themselves 



