Driving
Driving is an operation by which bees are induced to vacate an old settled hive and to enter an empty one. Many apiarians prefer this mode of effecting an exchange of hives to the plan of fumigating the bees.
The greatest success attending such a transfer will be in the case of hives well filled with combs that are worked nearly to the floor-board; and it may be remarked, that bees are generally so far provident, that they leave an open space in which to pass underneath their combs over all the floor of the hive. When the old hive is inverted, the bees crawl up the combs, and thus more easily pass up into the new hive, which the operator places over the old one, with the intent that they should enter it.
The best time for performing this operation is about the middle of the day, and when the weather is warm. It is essential that the operator be protected with a bee-dress and gloves, as before described; and previous to commencing his task, he must provide all necessary implements. These are:—a couple of hives, one of which should correspond in shape and size with the hive from which the bees are to be driven; a cloth to tie round at the junction when the new hive is placed on the old one; some string to keep the cloth in its place; an empty pail to receive the top of the old hive, if one of the old conical shape, but if the stock of bees is in a square box-hive with a flat top, a firm stool will be the best; and a tube fumigator with some fungus, which will complete the material of war. The bucket or stool must be placed securely on the ground, about a yard from the place where the full hive stands; then a few puffs of smoke, blown in amongst the bees, will cause them to retreat up amongst the combs. The bee-master must now turn the hive22 upside down very gently; letting it rest in the pail or on the stool; he then quickly places the empty hive over the full one, and ties the cloth round it, to prevent any escape of the bees. If the cloth be damped, it will cling the closer to the hives. The third hive is intended to be placed on the stand formerly occupied by the stock, so as to retain the few returning bees which had been absent in the fields. Care must be taken that all crevices through which it is possible for the bees to escape from the united hives should be effectually closed. When the two are fairly united, the operator will proceed by rapping the full hive gently with the hands or a couple of sticks, more particularly on that side where the combs are the most thickly placed—that is, if the hive be not equally filled. A stock is in the best condition for driving twenty-one days, or thereabouts, after a first swarm has issued; the brood will then have hatched out, the bees will quit more readily, and there will be no loss of larvæ in the cells.
It generally happens that, in about fifteen minutes, the bees regularly commence the ascent; their exodus will be known by the distinct rushing sound which is always noticed when a colony of bees is on the move. The first thing bees do when disturbed is to fill their honey-bags, as they invariably do at swarming time; consequently, after the first rush into the new hive is over, as in the case of a swarm, the “flitting” bees are not much disposed to take wing. When the noise made by the ascending bees has been heard, and has in a great degree subsided, the cloth may be removed, and the old hive, now deserted, may be taken indoors; and if a few bees yet remain, they may be brushed off with a feather. An experienced apiarian, on first hearing the rushing noise before mentioned, will not hesitate to tilt the top hive over a little on one side, so that he may watch the bees during the ascent; the queen may be seen passing up, and if the operator desires to take her away, he can secure her by placing a wine-glass over her. This expedient is often resorted to in the autumn, when stocks are to be united, for in such a case the removal of the queen prevents some fighting.
If the taking of the honey be the object of the bee-master, then “driving” is manifestly a better plan than resorting to the fumes of sulphur for the purpose; for the bees from whom the store is taken can be joined to stocks that are weak in numbers, with considerable advantage to the future prosperity of the apiary.
When the removed bees are to be joined to another stock, the operator will proceed as follows:—At dusk, dislodge the bees on to a cloth, sprinkle them with sweet syrup, and place the hive to which it is intended to join them over the mass; they will gradually ascend into the hive placed for them, and early next morning the hive, with its slender stock thus augmented, may be removed to its stand. Should the operator not have been successful, or not sufficiently skilful to gain possession of the queen, he may leave it to the bees themselves to decide which queen they will have.
By this plan of “driving,” artificial swarms may be secured by an “expert” even in common hives, though those do not afford the facilities for such a purpose as do the bar or bar-and-frame hives.
Notes
22 Care should be exercised in turning the hives over to keep the combs vertical, or they are likely to break from their foundations.