From another hive, made of straw, that hung out in the same manner, we extracted a swarm by a method described by some of the older Bee-masters, and with equal success: We carried the full hive into a dark place,—turned it up,—fixed it in the frame of a chair from which the stuffed bottom had been removed,—placed an empty hive over it, joining them mouth to mouth,—and partially drove it.[1] As soon as we perceived that about half of the bees had ascended into the empty hive,—knowing that in these cases the queen is generally amongst the foremost,—we immediately replaced the old hive on its former station, and removed the new one containing the queen, to a little distance. As the former had plenty of eggs and young brood, they were at no loss to procure another queen; while the other having a queen, proceeded to work in all respects as a natural swarm.
With such a hive as Huber's, or any other square-shaped hive that opens in two parts vertically, the
- ↑ By driving is to be understood the process of forcing the bees out of a full hive into an empty one. The mode of operating is described at length in page 227.
satisfactory proofs of the complete success of the operation. The hive contained a considerable quantity of honey, and, what was of greater consequence to the naturalist, the piece of brood comb which had been inserted, of about two inches square, contained the remains of two royal cells, one of which was open at the end, while the other had its opening in the broadside. From these appearances we infer, that, from the first cell a queen had issued in the natural way, and had succeeded in destroying her rival in the other, effecting her purpose by tearing open the cell in the quarter which afforded direct access to the vital parts of her rival's body."
