220 Transferring Bees, 



We set the old hive aside for twenty-one days, when 

 the young bees will all come from the cells. Should the 

 weather be cold, it might be well to put this in a warm 

 room, so the brood will not chill. At the time of swarm- 

 ing this will rarely be necessary. We now drum out these 

 bees as before, kill the queen, which has been reared, and 

 unite the bees with the others, or form a separate colony 

 as before, as the number of bees determines. We can now 

 split out the corners of the old hive, split the gum, or sep- 

 arate the staves of the barrel, so as not to break the comb. 

 This should be carefully cut loose, and the honey extracted 

 by use of the wire comb-holder (Fig. 107), and the comb 

 melted into wax for foundation. The only loss in this 

 method is the time which the bees require to draw out the 

 foundation, and this is far more than made up in the 

 superior combs which are secured. I think the time 

 expended in melting up the combs, etc., is more than made 

 up by the time saved in transferring. 



THE OLD METHOD. 



If one has no foundation, or desires to give the bees the 

 comb and honey at once, even at the cost of unshapely 

 combs, he then should drum tlie bees out as before, on a 

 warm day when the bees are busy at work, and put the 

 box containing the bees on the old stand, leaving tlie edge 

 raised so that the bees which are out may enter, and so all 

 the bees can get air. This metliod is difficult, except in 

 early spring, and is best done about noon, when the bees 

 are busy on the fruit bloom. It is not safe to transfer on a 

 hot day when bees are idle, as the risks from robbing are 

 too great. If other bees do not trouble, as they usually 

 will not if busily gathering, we can proceed in the open 

 air. If they do, we must go into some room, I have fre- 

 quently transferred the comb in my kitchen, and often 

 m a barn. Now knock the old hive apart, as already 

 described, cut the combs from the sides, and get the combs 

 out of the old hive with just as little breakage as possible. 

 Mr. Baldbridge, if transferring in spring, saws the combs 

 and cross-sticks loose from the sides, turns the hive into 

 the natural position, then strikes against the top of the 



