STOCKING THE APIARY. 
^83 
large knife for cutting out the combs; vessels for the 
honey ; a table or board, on which to lay the brood- 
combs ; cotton-twine or tape, for fastening them into the 
frames ; and water for washing off, from time to time, the 
honey which will stick to your hands. Having selected 
the working combs, carefully cut them rather large, so 
that they will just crowd into the frames, and retain their 
places in their natural position until the bees have time to 
fasten them. It will be well to wind some twine or tape, 
which should be subsequently removed, around the upper 
and lower slats of the frames, as an additional security. 
Small pieces of empty comb may be fastened with melted 
wax and resin (p. 72).* 
When the hive is thus prepared, the bees may be put 
into it and confined, water being given to them, until they 
have time to make all secure against robbers. 
When the weather is cool, the transfer should be made 
in a warm room, to prevent the brood from being fatally 
chilled. An expert Apiarian can easily complete the whole 
operation — from the driving of the bees to the returning 
of them to their new hive — in about half an hour, and with 
the loss of very few bees, old or young. The best time 
for transferring bees is about ten days after a swarm has 
issued or been forced from the old hive. The brood will 
then be sealed over, and able to bear considerable ex- 
posure. 
Until the feasibility of transferring bees by movable 
frames had been thoroughly tested, I felt irreconcilably 
* Tho Rev. Lovi Wheaton prefers to use combs for guides, and confines them by 
a thin strip of wood sprung betwoen tho uprights of tho frames, so as to press against 
tho lower edges of tho combs. 
Mr. Wm. W. Cary, in transferring, uses strips three-eighths of an inch wide and 
one-eighth thick, out from any springy wood, and half an inch longer than the depth 
of tho frames, lie fastens them together in pairs, with strings which koep them 
Just far enough apart to pass over tho tops and bottoms of the frames. Two pairs 
will bo needed for each frame, and they must bo removed after tho combs are 
firmly secured by tho bees, which will bo done in two or throo days. 
