170 
THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS JOURNAL. 
Daring the driving, a sharp look-out must be 
kept for the queen, and a little practice will 
enable the operator in almost every ease to pick 
her out as she scampers up amidst her terrified 
children ; but if she be not found, the bees must 
either be returned, and a second attempt made 
another time, or the driven swarm must be 
placed on the old stand and watched. If the 
bees remain quietly clustered in the hive, the 
queen is almost certainly there ; for, if she be j 
not, the bees will oommence rushing wildly in i 
and out searching for her. In this case, the old [ 
hive must be driven again until she is secured, 
and added to the driven bees, or we must give it 
up and return the bees. Not more than half the j 
bees need be driven if the queen has been seen 
to join them, aud a sufficient number must 
always be left to build queen-cells and hatch out 
the brood. 
If you intend to keep both stock and swarm, 
place these on opposite sides of the old stand, 
with an interval of not more than three feet 
between them, so that each should have an 
equal chance to receive bees returni 1 g from the 
fields. If one should appear too weak, it will be 
strengthened by drawing it nearer to the old 
stand, and removing the other for a time. 
If you have sold your swarm, pack it up and 
put your stock in its former place. 
Malting Three Skepx Out if Two . — If we have 
two stocks, and neither is ready to swarm 
naturally, we may make an artificial swarm 
out of the two as follows : — In the early part 
of a fine day. when bees are flying freely, 
drive, as nearly as possible, every bee from the 
first stock — of course, securing the queen — and 
place this driven swarm on the old stand. Now 
put the hive of combs and brood that has lost 
its bees upon the stand of the second stock, 
removing this to a new position. This plan is 
extremely simple, and has, in addition, the 
advantage of giving a strong early swarm, con- 
sisting of all the bees of the first stock. The 
bees of the second stock, on their return from 
the fields, enter the first hive, and perform the 
work of raising a new qneen, while the young 
bees of No. 2 remain with it ; and from constant 
hatching < f brood it will soon become as strong 
as at first. 
This method is also suitable for frame-hives, 
substituting the shaking of bees from their 
frames, as explained in the latter part of this 
chapter for the troublesome process of driving. 
Ten days later we can make another swarm, 
by driving all the bees from the second hive, 
when the first hive now raising queens will go to 
a new station, and the second driven hive will 
be placed in the position it occupied. 
We have four stands in a line No. 1, 2, 3, and 
4. The two stocks A and B are placed on I and 
and 2, thus making three out of two the artificial 
swarm. In ten days three are again made out 
of the two old stocks, A and B, the latter one 
this time furnishing the swarm, when the 
position will be— Stand 1, A’s swarm ; stand 2, 
B stock ; stand 3, B’s swarm ; stand 4, A stock. 
But in A stock there are now a number of 
queen cells sealed ; one of these is only required 
for requeening the hive, and one, or, for fear of 
failure, two, may be cut out with a square inch 
or so of comb, attached and inserted between 
the combs of B stock, special care being taken 
that its end is not pinched, and that it is left 
perfectly free for the escape of the hatching 
queen. This will have the effect of giving to a 
stock a queen ten days earlier than they could 
have raised one themselves. This is of immense 
consequence, as we shall see if we remember the 
number of eggs a queen will lay per day in 
summer. It is not safe to remove queen cells 
until near the time of hatching, which may be 
known by the roughening of the ends through 
the partial removal of the wax. 
When moveable combs are used, swarming 
may be very quickly pe iformed by removing the 
frame hive to a new stand, and lifting from it a 
comb of brood, with the queen and its adherent 
bees. This is placed in a new hive on the old 
stand, which should be furnished, in part at 
least, with comb or foundation. (See Guides 
and Foundation.) The gap made in the stock 
should be closed up by drawing the frames 
together, as the bees, finding an empty space in 
the middle of their hive, would fill it up with 
drone comb. Queenless bees never build worker- 
comb if left to themselves, but foundation, if 
given, will make drone comb building, with one 
unimportant exception, impossible. 
If we have sold a swarm, we make it thus. 
Having given a puff of smoke to induce the bees 
; to fill themselves with honey, we remove the 
j stock, and plaoe a large flat board on its s and ; 
j upon this we put a skep or box to receive the 
swarm, propping up the front edge of the former 
with a stone or wedge. The comb on which the 
! queen is found is now carried to the skep ; she 
is gently lifted up by the finger and thumb, 
i grasping her over the roots of her wings, and 
placed at the hive door ; the comb is now 
sharply jerked downwards, the bees fall, and 
with the queen run into the hive. Comb after 
comb is brought and shaken as the first, until 
enough bees for the swarm have been collected ; 
and if in a skep, when well clustered, they may 
[ be lifted quietly on to a piece of canvas, its ends 
gathered up and tied securely. Swarms in 
sleeps should always travel mouth upwards. 
The swarm being removed, the stock should be 
returned to its old stand. From this explana- 
tion, the way of making two stocks in frame- 
hives into three will be understood. 
Hiving swarms into frame-hives from skeps 
may also be very easily performed as follows : — 
Having removed the quilt and two or more 
frames, shake the bees from the skep by a 
sudden jerk into the hive and cover over with 
the quilt ; when they have clustered, replace 
the frames and quilt, and the operation will be 
completed. 
IX. — Supers and their Management, 
Combs containing honey alone, and spotless 
in their purity, can only with certainty be 
obtained by inducing the bees to build in 
chambers, partially separated from the hive 
