HOW TO FEED UNITED SWARMS.
There is always honey in hives that are emptied to be united. If there
are six pounds more or less, I lay aside the combs that are full, after
having separated those that are but half filled, and of which the cells
are not hermetically sealed by the little thin chip of transparent
white wax which invariably covers those cells that are full of honey.
Twelve or fourteen days after the union, when the cold forces the bees
to congregate themselves in their hives, I give the hive that contains
the double population a few puffs of tobacco-smoke; then, turning it
upside down, I cut away the empty combs, that are always below and on
the sides of the hive. While performing this operation, it is necessary
to give them an occasional whiff of smoke to keep them quiet. I only
take out the one-half of those that are half filled with honey, and
cease as soon as I find the comb quite full. When there is room enough
to contain the fragments of honey-comb that I mean to put in, I place
them as nicely as I can, without breaking or bruising them, filling
the empty space, without leaving any division but the little intervals
between the combs, to allow a free passage to the bees. This done, I
lay a board over it, and, with the aid of another person, we return it
gently to its former position, and, shaking it as little as possible,
replace it in its proper situation.
This operation may be done in the morning or in the evening, but never
in the heat of the day. I prefer the evening, in order not to attract
thieves.
The diligent bees soon discover the change that has taken place; and
finding bits of honey-comb heaped up in all directions, they set about
giving them solidity, soldering them together before the following
night, in such a manner, that all these fragments soon form one mass,
intersected only by little alleys of communication. Thus it remains
during the whole of the winter; and, in the month of March or April,
according to the temperature of the weather, I take out this irregular
mass, which I find entirely emptied; the bees having lived upon it, and
spared the provisions which they had stored in the middle of the hive.
I have supposed that the hive whose population I have doubled has also
received the addition of six pounds of honey-comb, given in the way I
have just described. These constitute, as it were, the dowry of the
new comers, who are themselves at the whole expence, as it was they
who constructed and filled the combs of which I took possession. The
doubled hive having then sufficient food to subsist on till spring,
I trouble it no more, certain, from past experience, that I shall
then find it in good condition. Every one of these swarms would have
perished from want, had they lived separately; and, by joining, I give
them the means of subsistence, without costing myself any thing. If the
supposed six pounds do not suffice to support them, I lend them more; I
say _lend_, for the bees always return with interest whatever advances
are made to them.
I proceed exactly after the same manner when I unite two old hives
that have not been able to lay up a sufficient provision, remembering
always, as already mentioned, that old dark-coloured combs, being
much heavier than white ones, contain also less honey, and that,
consequently, it requires a greater number of pounds to make up a pot
of this nectar. The difference is so great, that six pounds of white
comb will produce more than a pot of honey, whereas the same quantity
can scarcely be extracted from eight, or even ten, pounds of black comb.