Old Method of Transferring. 159 



brood will not chill. 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 — except that 

 we supply them with a queen — as the number of bees deter- 

 mines. We can now split out the corners of the old hive, 

 split the gum, or separate 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. 92) 

 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 su- 

 perior 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 the bees out as before, and put the box 

 containing the bees on the old stand, leaving the edge raised 

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

 can get air. This method is difficult, except in spring, and is 

 best done about noon when the bees are busy on the fruit 

 bloom. 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 frequently transfer- 

 red the comb in my kitchen, and often in 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 hive with a hammer till the fastenings arp 

 broken loose, when he lifts the hive, and the combs are all 

 free and in convenient shape for rapid work. 



We now need a barrel, set on end, on which we place a 

 board fifteen to twenty inches square, covered with several 

 thicknesses of cloth. Some apiarists think the cloth useless, 

 but it serves, I think, to prevent injury to comb, brood, or 

 honey. We now place a comb on this cloth, and in a frame on 

 the comb, and cut out the comb the size of the inside of the 



