It is the office of the bee-master to assist, not in the least degree to oppose, Nature. We know that when a natural swarm issues forth it has its queen, and when located in a new abode it commences building worker combs, leaving the building of the few requisite drone combs to a later period. But if a division of the hive should be made, by putting half the combs in one hive and half in another, the hive that is either queenless or contains an embryo queen will busy itself with building only drone comb (see [page 17]); thus a number of receptacles for useless bees are provided, while all the time the colony is rapidly dying off from the wear-and-tear of the working season.
In the plan we have recommended for forming two separate families we nearly follow the natural course of things; the comb that the queen is upon is the only one that is taken from the hive, and this vacancy should be filled in by moving the frames together, so as to leave the empty frame at the end. The swarm under the government of the queen construct the combs, and furnish their new abode, as before stated, with worker cells. By adopting the plan above described, the movable-frame hive will prove far superior to any of the dividing-hives, which provide for equal division of the combs.
There are, however, quite a host of other modes of procedure more or less varied from the above, and their number is doubtless capable of almost unlimited extension. Mr. Langstroth, in the tenth chapter of his "Honey Bee," describes a considerable variety of them, nearly all of which are accomplished wholly or in part by the process of driving. The following he particularly recommends as approaching nearest of any to natural swarming. Two hives exactly alike are placed one above the other with their entrances different ways; they have holes made through their floor-boards to allow of communication from the crown-board of whichever for the time occupies the lower position. Free passage being thus given from one to the other, a number of the young bees will use the upper entrance. After some ten days a swarm is driven from the lower and received into the upper, upon which the positions of the hives are reversed, the forced swarm being put below. Most of the mature bees will unite with the swarm from association with the lower entrance; but the young ones which have habituated themselves to the upper one will now cling to the parent stock and form a sufficient strength to keep it properly going. In the course of a few days the upper hive may be placed by the side of the lower, and then, by successive short steps, removed to any other part of the apiary. If it was found that either hive was too weak the positions should be again reversed.
When driving is the method resorted to, it becomes absolutely essential, in forcing a swarm, that the queen should go with the new colony; but on the other hand it is not in this case the object to drive all the bees from the parent stock, but to leave, say, a quarter to preserve warmth for the brood and to raise a new queen. If therefore the queen is not observed in the ascent of the bees after the drumming, those in the swarm must be turned and shaken over in the skep in order to find her (they will not attempt to fly, but only crawl). An inexperienced eye may still fail to detect her, and in that case it will be best to set both hives upon stands for a short time—the new one on the old stand and the old on some other—when within half an hour the one which is fairly quiet may be judged to be possessed of the royal presence. Should this be the old hive it must be again drummed, or the swarm may be returned to it and the operation renewed on a following day. It is, however, only with skep hives that any difficulty of this kind need be apprehended—there is always the power of capturing and transferring the queen from movable frames. When at last she is in the desired hive the swarm is secured, and the after measures depend on the number of bees that have accompanied her. If the stock retains one-half it may be moved to a new position and the swarm take its place upon the old stand. Whichever occupies this latter post will detach largely from the strength of the other, so that the reduction undergone by the parent stock will not be more than it will probably be able to sustain.
As detailed in the above article on "Driving" ([page 226]), there is a third hive made use of in this case, which has received the bees that returned home during the operation, and these are now added to whichever hive may most require them. Should too many have gone over with the swarm, this latter may be taken away and set in a cool airy place, while the old hive is carefully restored to its old stand, when the bees which were distractedly flitting in and out of the third hive will at once rush into it, and the impression made upon them by the occurrence will be such that they will now cling to it wherever it is placed. It must be forthwith removed to its intended permanent position, but if still short of bees this must be close at hand, so that if the forced swarm is kept where it is for a day or two a good number may desert to the old stock; its entrance should be closed until sunset as a precaution against robbers, but not so as to stop ventilation. The forced swarm, if not in their permanent hive, must now be treated as an ordinary transfer, and their fixed abode be brought in the evening to the old stand. Some additional covering may be needed at first, and in very cool weather the operation should not be attempted at all. There is no fear of all the bees deserting in the arrangement just suggested, and if inconvenient to complete the operation at once the swarm may be so left, even if there appears no need on account of the old stock.
The process of driving is the only method of obtaining artificial swarms from cottage hives, except in such rare cases of good fortune as the one mentioned on [page 236]; but even with frame hives it is often practised for the sake of its rapidity. But with an experienced operator the same result can be achieved by simply taking out the frames one by one and jerking off the bees on to the sheet in front of the new permanent hive; that on which the queen is found will be inserted therein just as it is—queen, brood, and workers. If the swarm is being collected in a skep the queen must be taken with the fingers and deposited therein, while the bees from as many frames as are needful must be shaken in after her.
There is sometimes a doubt whether a hive is strong enough to yield a swarm, though apparently overstocked. In such cases there is an excellent plan, devised by Mr. Langstroth and strongly approved by Mr. Cheshire, for obtaining a single swarm out of two hives. On a suitable morning, when large numbers are upon the wing, drum a strong stock till every bee has left it. Place the forced swarm on the old stand: this of course consists of bees in an unfurnished hive, while the old hive has lost all its bees, but retains its brood. Remove this hive to the stand of another strong stock, the hive of which goes to a third spot with the bees inside it at the time. Those of this last which were upon the wing will enter and remain with the first hive and raise a new queen; while sufficient will be transferred with the second stock hive to protect its brood also. Thus the first stock gives no bees to the swarm, but the whole of its brood; the second gives the larger half of its bees. If frame hives are the ones used, the shaking process of the last paragraph may be substituted for drumming; but as it may not be possible to shake off every bee without damaging the combs, a goose wing should be employed to brush off the more tenacious of the occupants.
Other modifications consist in either obtaining one swarm out of four or five hives, or else one less than their own number out of the same. For the former (frame hives) two combs may be taken from each and placed in a new hive, which is then set upon the stand of some strong stock. For the latter, a swarm is forced, after or before working hours, from each of these hives, while another swarm, that has been procured from some bee-keeper a mile or two off, and has been kept in a cool place, is now shaken on to a sheet, sprinkled to keep it from taking wing, and softly scooped up with a saucer and divided equally or as required among the hives that have yielded the swarms. The distance that these bees have come will prevent them from returning to their own home.
§ VII. QUEEN-REARING.
Perhaps the greatest advantage the movable-frame hive possesses is, that a full knowledge, can be attained of its exact state as regards the queen, the population, and the quantity of food in stock. During weather of a genial temperature the combs may on any fine day be inspected, and thus, a knowledge being gained of the deficiency existing in a hive, the necessary means may be adopted for supplying the want. Sometimes such an examination will verify the fears of the bee-keeper, when, having observed that his bees have ceased to carry in pollen, he has thereby received warning that the queen has been lost at some juncture when no successor to the throne could be provided. Such a hive has entered on a downward course and will dwindle away entirely, unless a queen should be given to it, or else some combs containing young brood not many days old (see [page 16]). By the latter method the bee-keeper will gain an opportunity of seeing the bees set about their wonderful process of raising a queen from the brood thus provided for them. If neither means is practicable the colony must be united to some other hive.