TRANSFER OF BEES,

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1239, 8 June 1880, Page 2

TRANSFER OF BEES,

Tin: best time to transfer is early in the season, when there is but little lioney in the hi\ es though it nviy be done at any time if sufficient caution is used ; still it should ne\er be done except on warm days, when the bees .lie actively engaged in storing. After the bees are busy at work, appioach the old hive, blow a little smoke into the entrance to quiet the bees, then carry the hive oil' a lew leet, and turn it bottom up, Place a box over the hive — it will make no dilleieuce whether it l\u close or not, li the bees cVi'o so binolicd a-j to be thoroughly cilarmed — and with a bhuv. lap ou" the lower hive for about twenty minuter The bees will iill with honey and go with the queen into the upper hive and cluster. It towards the last wo carefully set the box oil' oiioe or twice an I vi^oumsly shake the hue, ami then replace the bo\, we will hasten the emigi.it on ot tlu bojs, and m <,ke it moro coin,>kle. A tew younu bees will .till lenuin in the old hive, biu these will do no harm. Now put the bo . on the old stand, leaving the edge laired so that the bees which v. ere out ma^ enter, and uo that all the bues. can got air. Now knock the old hwe apart, cm the combs fiom the sides aad got them out of the old line with jiiot\is littU nreikaLje as powble. We novv nivd a barrel, set on end, on \\ Inch we place a board lifte^m to twenty inches vjuue, cnered with se\ oral thicknesses of cloth .Some apiarists think the cloth use Icsb, but it scnes to pic\ent mjiiiV to comb, brood, or Jionoy. W<> now phi. c a comb ou this cloth, and a fiamo ou the comb, ml cut out th ■ comb tlu> .sue of the inside of the fiame, taking pain, to save all the brood. Nov.' crowd the frame over the comb-, so th it the latter will be in the s line po3ili<>n that, it \vi-> when in tho old hivo , th.it is, so that tho honey cull-, will bo up >ormj^,t. Then faoten tho comb in the frime by winding about all one or two sin ill wiies or [iece-> of narron' tiptt or wr.ippiiu twin(>. To rai^o the frame and comb before fi teainir, tilfc tlio bond boneith until the fra uc i.s vcifcical. Sot tlii^s fra.ne in the new hive .xiid piocoed with the others in the same w-iy until all the wo.ker comb— that with the small celL is friste ed in. Cipt.im [Zoafcli^rin^ton ha^ ju^t invcated and pneticos a veiy neat method of f.isteaiii" 1 comb into fiamos. Inconstructing his frames he bores small holes through the top, side, aud bottom— bar j of his frames, about 2in apart— these holes are just large enoug-h to permit the passage of the long spines of the cocl^pur hawthorn. Now, in transferring the comb, he li is but, to stick these thorns tlnough into the comb to hold it securely. lie can also M 3( ui-o all tho pieces, aud still make a neat and secure frame of the comb, lie finds this arrangement convenient, too, iv strengthening insecure combs. Having fastened all the workercomb that we can into tho frames, we then set our hive on the stand, placing it so that the beca can enter any where along the alighting-board, and then shake all the bees from the box, and any younobees that may have clustered ou any pait of the old hivo, or on the floor or the ground where we transferred the comb, immediately in front. They will enter at ouco and soon be at work. In two or three days remove the wires or strings, &c, when we .shall find the combs all f tstcned and (smoothed off, and the bees as busily engaged as though their present home had always been the seat u£ their labours. Of course in transferring from one frame to another, the nutter is much simplified. Iv thi.s c is t >, alter thoroughly smoking the bees, wo have but to lift the frames, and shake or brush the bees into the new hive. Now, cut the comb in the best form to accommodate the new frames, and fa-ten as already suggested. After the combs are already transferred, shake all the remaining bees in front of the m w hive, which has al cad been placed on the stand previously occupied by the old hive.

purriNa glasses or .small iiives uroN SWAKSIS. The proper time for putting tlie-bell gl>ss or small hive or box upon a swarm, will b- from the 18th to the 21st day after their being hived ; and should it bo quickly filled, and more room required which may be kaowa by the crowed.

state of the bees in^ldo the gL v>, and by their being seen to cluster about the month of the hive at nine or ten in the morning, let no time be lost in lifting up the glass, and placing between it and the stock -hive, a small hive or box, with a hole in the top. It is necessary to n so tiny precaution at nil times, but more especially in rainy seasons, as a gioatcr disposition amongst the bees to Mwun then prevails.

SECOND SWARJTS. A second swarm generally leaves the hive about nine days after the first, but the tinio may be exactly acerfcained by btandiug quietly beside the hive after sims>efc, when the queen may be distinctly h-ai-d, which is a certain indication that a second &w,irm will leave the hive. Should two or three queens be heard one af rer the other, the swarming 1 will be on the following day, if the weather be not veiy unfavorable. Should the queens c iii.inuo to | iue after the departure of a seooud sw.mn, .1 third will certainly follow in a few dtys, if, however, one or two queen-> be found dead beneath the hive on til. no\'t nioniiiig, no more swarms can be expected.

JOIMNG MVARIIS. It must here be observed that second a'ul third swarms are very seldom, if ever, worth keeping by themselves ; but two second syfarms, wheu joined, are very little mfer\ov in \alue to a first swarm, and the unio U j s very eas'ly effected in the following rt-anner ;— When two second s\.irms, or a second. ail ,l uurd, come off on the same day, b vc them sepeiately, and then spread a clot, upon the ground, upon which, by a smart a, H l sudden movement, shake all the bees out of one of the hives, and immediately ta'*e the other and pW'o it gently over the bee» that are heaped together upon the cloth, v e dging up one side about half an inch thut the bees outride may pass under, and they will iastantly ascend into it, and join those which, not having 1 been disturbed, are quiet in their new abode. Afterwards remove the hive to the place in which it is to remain. This double population will work with double Miccess and the most perfect harmony, and geneially become a strong stock, from which much profit may be derived. r lwo second swarms, may be joined in the same manner, although one of them may have swarmed some days, or even weeks, later than the other ; taking care, however, not to make the first one enter the second, but the second the first. A third and a fourth parcel of bees may be joined to them at different times in the same way till the stock becomes strong. It is impossible sufficiently to impress upon the mind of every one who keeps bees t he necessity of having his stock all strong: for weak stocks are veiy troublesome, very expensive, and seldom, if ever, afford any profit. Mv Taylor says, "The stronger the colony at the outset the better the bees will work, and the more prosperous it will become. I never knew a weak one do well long, and a little extra expense and trouble at first are amply rewarded by succeeding years of prosperity and ultimitu profit." And again, "Thus strength in one year begets it in succeeding one"-*, and this principle ought to be boine m mind by thoso who imagine tint the deficient population of one season will be made up m the next, and that the loss 01 bees in the %\ inter is of secondaiy consequence, forgetting how influential is their warmth to earlier and increased productive poweisof the queen, and how important it is, in the opening spring, to bu able to spare from the home duties of the hive a number of collectors to add to the stores, ■which u ould other-wi-e not keep p'we wit') the cia\ iii^s of the rising genoiation. It 1-, a remarkable fact that two weak stocks joined will collect don bio the quantity of honey ami consume much less tluu tuo of the same ige and .strength ke[)t separately.