184 AUSTRALASIAN 
ferring board, of the construction shown in the following 
figure, is a most useful appliance. _ 
It is easily made, and very convenient when working. The 
spaces between the bars admit of the transferring wires being 
fixed on the lower side of the frame as well as on the upper 
side as it lies with its enclosed comb upon the board. Any 
honey that drips from the combs during the operation can be 
caught on a dish placed underneath the board. 
A fine warm day should be chosen, and I find the morning 
the best time for this work. Everything required being at 
hand, blow a few puffs of smoke into the entrance of the box, 
Fig, 94. TRANSFERRING BOARD. 
and after a minute or two turn it bottom upwards, just at the 
back of the place where it stood, and place the empty box over 
it. A cloth may be tied round the junction of the two boxes, 
to steady them and to keep the bees confined, if the operator is 
at all timid. An empty box may be placed where the old one 
stood, to catch any bees that return from the field during the 
operation. 
DRIVING. 
The bees are now to be forced to leave the old box and their 
combs and to cluster with their queen in the empty box which 
has been placed on the top, just as a natural swarm does when 
newly hived. This process of forced swarming is called 
“driving.” It is done by rapping on the sides of the box hive 
in such a way as to frighten the bees until they fill themselves 
with honey and retire from the apprehended danger, as it is 
their instinct to do under such circumstances. This rapping 
on the sides of the box may be done with the hands, but better 
with a pair of sticks, beginning gently and gradually increasing 
