130 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



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 to them the bees of those that are wholly put 

 down. 



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

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

 The bees are allowed to gather all they can in their own 

 hives tUl the season ends, which is generally about the 

 commencement of September. Suppose we have twelve 

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

 the bees are driven out of their hives into empty ones, 

 and united in pairs in 16-inch hives — that is to say, all 

 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 them; in that 

 case they should be enlarged with ekes. Now they are 

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

 its own weight of water. The feeding-boards are suitable 

 instruments to use in giving large quantities of syrup for 

 comb-buUding and storing-up. The 25 lb. of sugar will 

 make about 50 lb. of syrup. All 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-buUding. By the end of fourteen 

 days, every hive so filled and fed will be nearly, if not 

 quite, full of combs, and many of the combs well filled 

 with eggs and brood. The weight gained by the hives 

 win be found to be equal to the weight of the sugar (or 

 thereabouts) given to them. From 50 lb. of syrup, a 



