CHAPTER III 



TRANSFERRING 



Should the would-be bee-keeper decide to purchase a 

 stock in a skep from some cottager, he should take care 

 to make his purchase in the spring, about the middle 

 of April being the best time, as the excitement set up 

 by removal and transferring provides the requisite 

 amount of stimulation, inducing the queen to commence 

 breeding in real earnest. The bees should have 

 swarmed the previous year, thus ensuring a young and 

 active queen at the head of the colony. Precautions 

 ought also to be taken to ensure that the colony is free 

 from foul brood. Should the colony, the purchase of 

 which is contemplated, be in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood, an examination should be made before removal. 

 This should, if the purchaser is a beginner, be made by 

 an experienced bee-keeping friend, or the expert of the 

 county or local Bee-Keeping Association. First watch 

 the bees at work, and observe if pollen is being carried 

 in (a sign of the presence of a queen and that breeding 

 has commenced) ; next subdue the bees as described 

 under " Driving," and invert the skep. Observe the 

 colour of the combs. If black and rotten, the colony is 

 an old one and an undesirable purchase. Particularly 

 should evidences of foul brood be looked for. 



The colony having been pronounced in good health, 

 it should forthwith be removed to the purchaser's apiary, 

 which is best done by first lifting the skep on to a square 

 of cheese cloth, tying the four corners together over 



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