53

THE HONEY-BEE IN NEW ZEALAND 51

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 domicile; 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.
In Walsh's British Housekeeper, page 242, we find a
new method very similar to what has been already given.

To Prevent Swarming

Procure two boards an inch and a half thick, or perhaps
a little more, and of a size a little larger than the base of
the hives. Cut a sloping way out of two adjoining sides
(say the front and right side of one and the front and left
side of the other, so that when they are placed alongside of
each other and a hive placed on each board, there is an
entrance to each hive and a passage also between the two),
the breadth of the mouth of the hives, and reaching from
that part to the edge of the board. Before swarming time,
a hive full of honey is to be placed on one of these, and an
empty hive on the other, with a piece of wood covering the
narrow vacant space between them. Next stop up the door-
way of the full hive, so that the bees cannot avoid passing
out through the empty one, and shift both on the foot-
board until the new enrtrance is opposite the situation of
the old one, when by sprinkling a little honey, the bees
soon become reconciled to the change. In this way double
the former room is given, while the queen and her nurses
set to work to rear a fresh brood, and the honey storers fill
the new hive with honey. When this last is also filled, it
must be removed in the following manner:- A fine day
should be selected for this purpose, when most of the bees
are out at work; then cut off the passage between the two
hives by slipping a piece of metal or wood between them.
Slip the old entrance back to its old place, and stop up the
new one. At this time, if there is a great commotion in
the new hive, it is a sign that the queen is there, and it is
necessary to postpone the removal until she has left it, in
which case the separation must be removed. But usually