STOCK-HIVES. 175 



1. One is to drive the bees out of the heavy hives 

 before the honey season ends, and put two swarms into 

 an empty hive. A few days of honey weather will enable 

 the bees to fill their new hive with combs, but there will 

 be a proportionate loss of honey by interfering with heavy 

 hives before the season is over. When two swarms are 

 thus united, the oldest queen should be destroyed before 

 the union takes place. 



2. The second way is to select the proper number of 

 stocks from these heavy hives, and greatly reduce them 

 in weight by freely using the comb-knife in cutting out 

 20 lb. of honey or more from each hive, and uniting the 

 bees of those that are wholly put down to them. 



3. The other way of meeting the diEBculty is the best, 

 though it causes a little more trouble to carry it out. The 

 bees are aUovred to gather all they can in their own hives 

 till the season ends, which is generally about the com- 

 mencement of September. Suppose we have twelve or 

 fifteen hives, and wish to have six stocks. Well, all the 

 bees are driven out of the heavy honey-hives into empty 

 ones, and united in pairs in 16-iiich hives — that is to say, 

 aU. the bees of the twelve or fifteen hives are put into six 

 empty ones, with cross-sticks in them. If the swarms are 

 very large, these hives will hardly hold two ; in that case 

 they should be enlarged with ekes. Now they are to be 

 fed vigorously, each hive to get 25 lb. of sugar boiled in 

 its own weight of pure water. In some cases that is not 

 enough. The feeding-boards are the best instruments to 

 use in giving such large quantities to bees for comb-build- 

 ing and storing up. The 25 lb. of sugar will make about 

 50 lb. of syrup. AU this should be given to a hive so filled 

 with bees in ten, twelve, or fourteen days. The door 

 should be well contracted, and the hive kept warm, to 

 promote comb-building. Large garden-saucers or soup- 



