74 BEES FOR PLEASURE AND PROFIT. 



are united together, without any of the queens being previously 

 removed, they show no disposition to fight, it is only necessary 

 to catch a queen if she is known to be old or enfeebled 

 and inferior to the queens of the other lots with which we 

 intend to unite the one we are driving. The rapping on 

 the sides of the hive must not be so hard as to break the 

 combs, yet it must be sufficiently hard to jar them ; it must 

 also be kept up continuously, until all the bees have ascended, 

 for if we stop the bees will cease running up. " Close driving " 

 is another method of getting bees out of a hive; by this 

 method the two skeps are fitted close down, one to the other, 

 mouth to mouth, and a cloth is tied round the juncture, so that 

 no bees may escape. The objection to this plan is that we are 

 unable to catch the queen as she runs up, nor can we be quite 

 sure that she has gone up. It is also difficult to know when 

 all the bees have run up. For nervous persons, or when hand- 

 ling very vicious bees, this plan has much to recommend it. 



Robbing. 



Beware of robbing in autumn ; it is even more dangerous 

 then than in the spiing. Do not spill syrup about the hives, 

 or leave pieces of comb containing honey lying about near them. 

 Contract the entrances of all hives — an entrance Ig inch 

 wide will be quite sufficient for the strongest stock, while 

 weak ones do not need one so wide. All stocks which have not 

 sufficient stores must be fed up rapidly, till they have 20 lbs. 

 of sealed stores at the very least ; with this amount they may 

 be considered safe to stand the winter without any further 

 assistance till the middle or end of March. For further 

 directions concerning feeding up stocks for winter see page 56. 



Packing up Hives for Winter. 



Although it is not absolutely necessary in every case, stocks 

 are very much benefited by having the spaces between the 

 division-boards and the sides of the hive filled with some such 

 warm packing as corkdust, sawdust, chaff, or shavings. With 

 weak stocks this is almost indispensable ; while strong ones, thus 

 treated, come through the winter in much better condition. In 

 spring the hive can be lifted from the floor-board, and the 

 packing will then drop out. Plenty of quilts must be placed 

 over the bees before the winter sets in, and care should be taken 



