Texas Beekeeping. 35 



bees are left in the old hive (more if the weather is cool) to take care 

 of the brood in the combs, which, in twenty-one days will have hatched 

 out and these bees may then, also, be shaken in front of the new hive 

 the same as before. 



The combs are now cut out of the box hive and all the straight combs 

 fitted and tied into as. many frames as the operator may have comb 

 for, and placed in the new hive where the bees will mend them. Some 

 beekeepers transfer the combs immediately after driving the bees the 

 first time, thus finishing the work at once. This is often the best 

 method when the transferring is done early in the season, so all the 

 bees and brood can be kept together. Other beekeepers do not use 

 the combs at all but melt them up into wax after the bees have hatched 

 out of them in the twenty-one days, leaving the bees in the new hive 

 to build their combs on full sheets of foundation previously fastened 

 in the frames. The box hive is set to one side of the transferred bees 

 in the frame hive and left in this position for ten days when it is set 

 on the opposite side. This throws the flying bees, who miss their own 

 hive, with those in the frame hive. The operation is again repeated 

 in ten days, and then the combs and all remaining bees are removed 

 from the box hive a few days thereafter. This strengthening of the 

 old colony is of material benefit at this time, since the working force 

 becomes depleted within a -short time. 



Another simple way of transferring is to lay the old hive, from 

 which one of its sides has been previously removed, on its side and 

 set the new hive, with the frames filled with full sheets of foundation, 

 over it, and allow the bees to move up into it at leisure. As some 

 colonies are very slow about doing this, it is advisable to first remove 

 a large comb of honey and brood from the old hive and insert it into 

 one of the frames, so that the bees will be enticed into the frame hive. 



STARTING VyiTH NUCLEI. 



A very extensive business of shipping one, two, or three combs of 

 honey, brood and bees, in light crates by express, has long been estab- 

 lished. Since such nuclei can generally be obtained more easily, and 

 safely shipped a greater distance than full colonies, it is one of the 

 best ways to start with bees. It is possible in this way to begin with 

 pure stock. Such nuclei may be obtained from various queen raisers' 

 whose business it is to furnish both queens and bees of pure strains. 

 Upon arrival of the nuclei, the combs are simply placed in hives 

 previously prepared for them. The remaining space in the hive is 

 filled with frames containing fuU sheets of foundation, and the bees 

 allowed to build up to full colonies. The nuclei should be purehasect 

 at a time in the spring when nectar can be obtained freely by the bees, 

 or the nuclei will have to be assisted by feeding, to enable them to 

 progress. 



MOVING AND SHIPPING BEES. 



In addition to people simply moving a few "bee gums" home when 

 the first bees are purchased, which is very easily acomplished by set- 

 ting the box hives upside down in the wagon bed, after having tied 



