When old hives are weakened by giving out too many swarms, and have not amassed a sufficient provision for the winter, many proprietors place them one above another, simply making an opening in the board, to serve as a communication between them, and closing the entrance to the upper one, with a little clay, for the purpose of making the bees go out and in through the lower one by the only opening that is left them. Several authors advise it; I have done it also, but shall do so no more, having found it attended by two serious inconveniences.
The first is, that the two colonies do not always agree; indeed they fight sometimes to extremity, and thus the one is destroyed and the other is weakened. The reason is, that the bees of the upper hive, descending one by one, or only few at a time, are examined at leisure by those in the lower one, and, not having the same signal, are mistaken for robbers, and killed without mercy. This occurred to me the first time I attempted to unite them in this way; but it never happens in the tumultuous union of two swarms, when the one has been sprinkled and almost glued with honey, in consequence of which it is not in a fit state to commence an attack on those that are hastily displaced.
A second inconvenience is, that, even supposing there should be no warfare, the habitation is much too large for those that are henceforth intended to be but one family. Whether they unite in the upper or the under hive, one of them must be left empty, into which thieves can find easier access; and although they should not be plundered, they would suffer from the cold of a severe winter. The population, indeed, is doubled, but so is the size of the lodging, and in that case there will be no swarms. Very large hives seldom swarm, it requires so much more time to fill them. My method has not these disadvantages, for two families living together in the same hive are warmer, and better able to resist any hostile attack.
It is to avoid these two inconveniences that, in autumn, I empty an old hive which has not sufficient provision, and, in the evening of the same day, I introduce the bees into one of its neighbours on the right hand or on the left, proceeding in the same manner as with the swarms; with this single difference, that the sprinkling of honey should be more liberal to the old hive than to the swarm.
If the hive of which I have doubled the population is well enough furnished with provision for the winter, I give it nothing. And if there is not enough, I give it before winter as much as it requires, in the manner hereafter to be detailed.
CHAPTER XVI.
NEIGHBOURING HIVES SHOULD BE UNITED.
I HAVE already said, in [Chapter III.] that bees which have not swarmed voluntarily return to the place they have been accustomed to, even after having been shut up for months: the same thing would happen if you united swarms distant from each other. Next day, or the day after, you would have the mortification to see the bees return by hundreds to their old residence, flutter about for a length of time, and lose their lives, either by falling down from fatigue, or throwing themselves into the neighbouring hives, where they are put to death. Not having left their new dwelling with the same precaution that a swarm uses to reconnoitre the one it has chosen, or that has been given to it, and, supposing themselves at home, in spite of the disorder of the night before, they rush out on a rapid flight, and, returning from their excursion, go back to the place of their ancient domicil; and thus the purpose of fortifying your hives, and of preserving them, by uniting them, is defeated. I have frequently tried to unite distant hives, and always met with this result.
There is only one remedy for this that I know of, but it is an imperfect one, and gives a great deal of trouble. It is, to put in some combs of wax into the hive that has been emptied, and replace it in its old situation. The bees return to it in great numbers the following day, and some days after; at length, after a great deal of bustle, they settle towards evening on the combs, and, before night, when they are quite tranquil, I take the combs one after another, and, with a feather, sweep off the bees, so as to make them fall upon the board of the one that contains their companions, and which they now enter with evident marks of joy. This operation may require to be repeated for seven or eight days, with this difference, that every succeeding day fewer will return. Thus the evil may be repaired, though incompletely and with infinite trouble.
It is to avoid the perplexity which displacing them occasions to these precious insects, and also the loss that results to myself, that I move the united hive a little to one side, so that it may occupy the space that was before between them. As displacing them only a few inches does not confuse them, for the same reason, when I join three hives, as I often do, I never displace the middle one, but remove those I have emptied on the right hand and on the left, which is sufficient to prevent mistakes, and the bees, finding no hive on either side, enter the middle one without hesitation. It is a very essential point, however, to join only neighbouring hives, as being less troublesome and more successful.