The progressive farmer., 1904-07-05
Transferring and Italianizing Bees.
Editors Progressive Farmer:
Rockingham Co., N. G.


or modern box, give this plan which l consider
about the best:
First get everything ready-a hammer and
chisel, a ball of cotton cord, a case knife or q
knife with long blade, and box, say about a
foot deep that will just fit on top of the box you
wish to transfer when the top is taken off. Next
you want a table smooth board to lay the
combs on when they taken from the box hive
later on.
Now go to the box you wish to transfer. If it
has cap it, take it off and set it aside. lie it
has no cap then knock the top off and place the
box previously mentioned top-the open side,
or end, down, of course. Now, with couple of
sticks drum the box hive for about ten minutes
After this, set it few feet to side and
place your patent or modern box in it place. Now
drum the box hive again for a few minutes. Wait
a couple of minutes and then lift the box from the
toy and you will find it full of bees. Dump these
at the entrance of your modern hive, and watch
carefully to see if the queen is among them If
YOU do not see her. replace the box and drum as
before until YOU have at least taken most of the
bees from the box hive. Now, with hammer and
chisel, pry off side of the box hive, with your
knife cut the combs from the box and lay them
| the table. Take a brood frame from the honey
maker or modern box, place one of the best
combs and cut the comb, following the inside of
| the frame. Fit it in as nicely as you can, tax
ing that you place it in the frame it hung
| in the box-the end that up IN the box must
| be up in the frame, the cells in the comb slant
downward. If reversed, the bees could do nothing
with it. Sometimes it will take two more pieces
| to fill frame. After you have filed frame the
best you can, do not lift it up, but slide it gently
to the end of the table-now little more, so the
frame will project couple of inches beyond the
edge of the table. Now, with the cord, wind
| around the frame and comb twice and tie tight;
next slide the frame to the other end of the table
and tie the other end you did this. Now that
you have the comb tied sufficiently in place, raise
it up and place in your modern box. Repeat this
operation until you have used up all the comb
containing brood and honey that be used.
Now put the top on your modern hive and shake
all the bees that remain in the old box at the
trance and your job will be finished.
Don't put super containing honey y-boxes on your
transferred colony under week or ten days, and
not then unless they well built up in the
brood chamber and honey is coming in.
If you wish to Italianze them, wait until about
ten days after they are transferred; then hunt
up the queen and kill her. In about three days
look the frames carefully and cut out all
queen cells that may have been started. Now,
take the cage containing new queen, take the
cork or stopper out end of cage containing candy
feed and place cage, candy end down, between
a couple of frames near the centre of the box;
then put top and do not open again for week.
By this time the bees will have liberated the queen,
and you can take the cage out, and shove the
frames back close. AS the life of the worker bees
is only about twenty-one days, month, you
may be to find your box pretty we'll Italian
lied by the end of this time, as it takes Just
twenty-one days from the time the egg is laid to
hatch out a full-fedged bee You should order
your italian queen several days before you kill
your old queen, as queens cannot always be fur
nished by retain mail Queen-breeding is slow
and tedious process, which is not always under
stood by those not engaged in the business. You
may have some fine queens to-day that you intend
selling in few days. They go out on their "wed-
ding trip and do not always return. Some {
that do return get into the wrong box and
are killed while others caught by birds.
WALTER Z. WOMBLE.