86 THE APIAUY; OE. 



By this plan of " driving," artificial swarms may be secured by 

 an " expert " even in common hives, though those do not afford the 

 facilities for such a purpose as do the bar, or bar-and-frame, hives. 



CHANGING OLD STOCKS TO NEW HIVES. 



We frequently find that the possessor of a stock of bees 

 in a cottager's common straw hive is desirous of removing the 

 ■whole stock of bees and comb into one of our improved hives, 

 in which the honey may be obtained without the destruction 

 of the bees. We mostly discourage such a transfer, attended 

 as it is with much labour, and requiring a considerable amount 

 of apiarian skill. An old fashioned hive may very readily be 

 rendered a humane one, simply by cutting out with a sharp pointed 

 knife the middle of the top of the liive ; a piece may thus easily be 

 taken out, so as to leave a round hole two or three inches in diameter, 

 but care must be taken that the knife does not penetrate much below 

 the straw, lest it reach the comb or the bees — and it will be safer for 

 the operator to have a bee-dress on. There should be ready a round 

 adapting board, with a corresponding hole, which may be secured 

 on the top by putting four long nails through the same number of 

 holes in the board ; then a cap hive or a glass may be placed on 

 tbe top, for the purpose of admitting the bees, who will soon crowd 

 therein to work. 



This hive or glass will form a super or depriving hive, and 

 can be worked as profitably as most of the improved hives. Eor 

 the sake of an improved appearance, an outside case, either of 

 zinc, straw, or wood, may be dropped over all, and then, if well 

 painted, the whole will form no disfigurement to any flower garden. 



This is beyond doubt the easiest way of overcoming the difficidty, 

 but as it may not satisfy all, we now proceed to describe how a 

 complete transfer may be made. No hive offers such facilities for 

 the correct placing of the combs in a perfectly upright position as 

 does the bar and frame hive. As before remarked, we should be 

 slow to recommend any one to attempt the operation who is not 

 already pretty well accustomed to the handling of bees and 

 acquainted with their habits; but by carefully carrying out the 

 following directions any one may successfully perform the feat. 

 The first thing is to get the bees away from the combs; there 



