1 80 THE APIARY. 



square box-hive with a flat top, a firm stool will be the 

 best; and a tube fumigator with some fungus, which 

 will complete the material of war. The bucket or stool 

 must be placed securely on the ground, about a yard 

 from the place where the full hive stands ; then a few 

 puffs of smoke, blown in amongst the bees, will cause 

 them to retreat up amongst the combs. The bee- 

 master must now turn the hive * upside down very genttyj 

 letting it rest in the pail or on the stool ; he then quickly 

 places the empty hive over the full one, and ties the 

 cloth round it, to prevent any escape of the bees. If the 

 cloth be damped, it will cling the closer to the hives. 

 The third hive is intended to be placed on the stand 

 formerly occupied by the stock, so as to retain the few 

 returning bees which had been absent in the fields. 

 Care must be taken that all crevices through which it is 

 possible for the bees to escape from the united hives 

 should be eflFectually closed. When the two are fairly 

 united, the operator will proceed by rapping the full 

 hive gently with the hands or a couple of sticks, more 

 particularly on that side where the combs are the most 

 thickly placed— that is, if the hive be not equally filled. 

 A stock is in the best condition for driving twenty-one 

 days, or thereabouts, after a first swarm has issued ; the 

 brood will then have hatched out, the bees will quit 



- *' Care should be exercised in turning the hives over to keep 

 the combs vertical, or they are likely to break from their founda- 

 tions. 



