244 Beekeeping 



and may be united and placed wherever desired, but Ameri- 

 can beekeepers rarely have occasion to use such methods. 

 During a honey-flow, when the field bees are coming in 

 heavily laden with nectar, the field bees of two colonies that 

 are close together may be allowed to enter one hive and they 

 do not molest each other. The queen to be saved should be 

 caged for a day or two to overcome the danger of the strange 

 bees killing her. When brood-rearing is reduced, as in the 

 fall, the colony odor is apparently less influential, for less 

 precaution is necessary in uniting. 



Learning the new location. 



Field bees return to the location of their hive and they 

 remember the old location and return to it if the hive is 

 moved. If two colonies to be united are not close together, 

 they should be moved gradually nearer, perhaps a foot 

 every day that the bees can fly, until they are side by side. 

 The bees learn each location in succession and after uniting 

 they will not return to the original position and be lost. 

 If it is necessary to move the colonies faster, they may be 

 put into the new place and a pile of brush or weeds or a 

 slanting board placed in front of the entrance so that when 

 the bees fly out they will perceive a change and learn the new 

 location. If it is desired to unite two weak swarms, this 

 may be done simply by placing them together, either in the 

 hive or on the hive entrance. Swarming bees abandon the 

 memory of the old location (p. 180) ; they are full of honey 

 and may be placed anywhere. The better queen should be 

 saved and the other removed or the bees may separate into 

 clusters. Swarms may be added to newly .established colo- 

 nies if desired. 



If queenless colonies are found in early spring which are 

 to be united with normal colonies, the usual practice is to 

 place them on top of the normal colony. Few bees return 

 and there is usually no trouble as such bees seem ready to go 

 to any colony. 



