GETTING STARTED WITH BEES 87 



comb in the hive. It often happens that the 

 person wishing to buy bees will find it neces- 

 sary to take about what is offered. If bees in 

 poor condition are purchased, the buyer should 

 pay accordingly and know what is necessary to 

 put them in proper condition to harvest a prof- 

 itable crop. Personally the author would pre- 

 fer to pay a liberal price for Italian bees, on 

 straight combs, in good hives, than to buy black 

 or hybrid bees in undesirable hives at any 

 price. The bother of transferring, the cost of 

 new hives and queens and the time lost will 

 amount to considerable, to say nothing of the 

 irritation caused by such a disagreeable task. 



Teansferrixg. — When the bees are pur- 

 chased in such hives, it is usually the best plan 

 to leave them in the old hive until they swarm. 

 The new swarm should be hived in a new ten- 

 frame hive and set where the old one stood. 

 The old hive should be set close to one side of 

 the new swarm, on the old stand. After about 



