DRIVING, TBANSFEBBING, UNITING. 163 



Open driving is a more interesting operation, and 

 should be practised, when the presence of the queen 

 among the bees driven must be noted. When placing 

 the empty skep above the stock hive, driving irons (Pig. 

 53) are used to fix it at an angle of 45° or more to the 

 latter. The junction of the two hives should be at a 

 point to which the combs run, so that the bees may 

 leave their hive without the labour of climbing over 

 the combs. The driving irons are fixed one on each 

 side, and the ends are driven lower into the side of 

 the stock hive, and the upper into the side of the 

 empty hive, a skewer being used to hold the hives 

 together at the junction. 



When the hives are thus (| S] 



fixed the jarring of the combs 1 If 



will take place as for close "" ^ 



driving ; but gently at first, 11 11 



or many bees will leave the ^> ' 



combs, and, flying about, 



become a source of annoyance to the operator. A 

 few bees flying about will do no harm, unless they 

 are robbers from other stocks in search of exposed 

 sweets. If there is a danger of robbing, the entrances 

 to other stocks should be closed before driving opera- 

 tions commence, in such a manner that the bees are 

 not harmed by the confinement. 



After a few strokes on the side of the stock hive, the 

 bees will commence to run along the combs towards 

 the junction of the hives, and there enter the upper 

 one. They may move in great numbers when once 

 started, and, if so, must be prevented by cloths from 

 congregating at the back of the hive. Moving the 



