14 BEE-KEEPING IN WAR-TIME 



found, then remove the central frame from the new hive, and 

 put in its place the comb with the queen and adhering bees, 

 close up the combs in the parent stock, place the frame of 

 foundation removed from the new hive so that it is the 

 one nearest the hive wall on one side, wrap both lots up 

 warmly, move the parent stock to a new site some few yards 

 away, put the new hive on the position it occupied. The 

 old foraging bees go out to work from the old hive in its new 

 situation ; upon their return they go to the old position, which 

 is now occupied by the new hive in which are a few bees and 

 the old queen. In this way the old bees, which constitute a 

 swarm, are sifted out. Young bees do not fly until they are 

 fourteen days old ; the parent hive retains all these for its 

 population just as it would if a natural swarm had issued. 

 Finding they are queenless these young bees immediately 

 set to work and rear a queen, which, after she has been 

 mated, forms the head of the colony. The only difference 

 between a natural and an artificial swarm is, that there is 

 a longer period of queenlessness in the latter than the 

 former. 



IV 



HOW TO ESTABUSH AND MANAGE BEES 



The best and cheapest way to commence bee-keeping is by 

 means of a swarm obtained as early in the spring as possible. 

 If a stock, i.e. bees on their combs established the previous 

 season, is bought, it will be more expensive — the former 

 costing from fifteen to thirty shillings, the latter from forty 

 shillings to three pounds. With a swarm there is not much 

 fear of disease being present, as there is with a stock. The 

 combs have to be built by the swarm ; a record of their age 

 can be kept so that they can gradually be renewed as re- 

 quired, thus there will always be a few new combs in the 

 hive with full-sized cells to keep up the size and stamina of 

 the bees. The advantage of commencing with a stock is 

 that a return in honey will be obtained the first year, whereas 

 this is not always possible with a swarm. If the latter estab- 

 lishes itself and stores sufficient food to last through the 

 winter, the bee-keeper is satisfied. All things considered, 

 there is no doubt that the experience gained in watching the 

 development of a swarm into a stock is ample compensation 

 for the loss of a little honey, apart from the saving in cost. 



