Wearied at length of their researches, and finding in this new establishment a great number of their companions, with an imprisoned queen, they unite themselves together at the top of the hive, begin, even the same evening, to build combs; and thus is obtained an excellent artificial swarm. Next day, and some days after, many bees continue to join them from the old hive, which delays not to repeople itself from the brood-comb with which it is filled, as it is not more weakened than if it had swarmed naturally. The second day after this operation the new hive must be lifted up, the cage taken out, and the queen set at liberty, which is easily done, by drawing out two or three of the wires that form the grating. It would not be possible to make her descend by the hole through which she entered, and, by delaying too long to take her out, she would be completely surrounded by combs, that must be broken before she could be released. The precaution of keeping the queen in prison for two days is indispensable; for without this precaution she would be put to death as a stranger, or she might escape from the hive during the first tumult, which would cause the total failure of the swarm. But after being shut up in it for a little time, she is looked upon as the hope of the new colony, and sure of a favourable reception.
To succeed in this operation, there must be, at least, six inches between each hive: should they touch each other, many of the working bees would infallibly lose their lives, by throwing themselves into some of the neighbouring ones.
Such is the result of these tedious and difficult operations to obtain artificial swarms by the method of M. Shirach, at this time generally pursued in Germany. There is another, easier and less tedious, said to be in usage in the Archipelago, in Ancient Greece, and several other countries, which I have followed with great success.
Choose a hive of wood or straw, exactly the same in form and size of the one from which you mean to take the swarm. On a fine day in May, or, in mountainous countries, which are later, about the beginning of June, throw a few whiffs of tobacco-smoke into a well-stocked hive, turn it up, and, with a little more smoke, disperse the bees that are upon the combs; then cut out a bit of comb, about the size of the palm of a hand, taking care that there be the three kinds of brood, viz. eggs, maggots, and nymphs, already enclosed in the cells that serve them for cradles, but especially those maggots that have been hatched within two days; after returning this hive to its place, then proceed to fix the bit of comb with some wooden pins, in the top of the newly prepared one, and support it underneath with a thin chip of wood. Between eleven and twelve in the forenoon, lift a very populous hive (not the one out of which the brood-comb was taken), off its own board to another that must be ready to receive it, and put the empty one in the place it occupied. All the bees, returning from the fields, enter the one that has been substituted, seem at first to be greatly agitated, but, by degrees, gather round the brood-comb, and begin before night to construct a royal cell, to which they transport a maggot of two days old, and where it undergoes its metamorphosis, and comes out a queen. By this method, I have procured excellent swarms from hives that would not have swarmed naturally; and, the following spring, renewed the old hives, after the manner indicated in Chapter XXI, thus preserving my hives in good condition.
CHAPTER XXIII.
ADVANTAGES OF ISOLATED HIVES.
A swarm, taking flight, rushes out of the hive, and seems bent on fixing itself in some distant quarter, as if it feared the neighbourhood of other swarms—as if it felt that its most formidable enemies were those of its own kind.
Swarms will unite, however, when they take flight at the same time, because the bees of one hive cannot be distinguished from those of another when on the wing, and crossing each other in every direction; and as soon as one group begins to knot upon a branch, the bees of the other crowd round, supposing them to be their companions. Their instinct, however, rather leads them to isolate themselves, as they do in great forests; but their proprietors resist this instinct, assemble a great many hives together in the same apiary, to shelter them from the weather, as well as to protect them from thieves, and to watch over them at the time of their emigration.
Such are, doubtless, great advantages, but not sufficient to counterbalance those that would result from keeping them separate. The mixing and uniting together of several swarms, that often take place in large apiaries, and which is not always an advantage, would thereby be prevented. There would be greater facility in forming artificial swarms, and one hive would not be disturbed in operating on another. The great expence of bee-houses would thus be spared; these are much more costly than stands for isolated hives, for which there is nothing more necessary than a board, supported by a pile of wood, sunk into the ground, with a thatch of straw, which any one can spread over the tops of the hives, to protect them from the rain and the heat of the sun.