CHAPTER XVII.
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.