CHAPTER VII.
Method of uniting second and third Swarms.
Secondand third Swarms, or Casts and Colts, are seldom or ever able to collect a sufficient quantity of honey, to support themselves through the winter, and can only be preserved by much care and expense, and most of them die after all without bringing any profit. It is much better therefore to unite them in the following manner:—when twoCastsorColtscome off upon the same day hive them separately and leave them till an hour and half after sunset, then spread a cloth upon the ground, upon which by a smart andsudden movement shake all the Bees out of one of the hives, and immediately take the other and place it gently over the Bees that are heaped together upon the cloth, and they will instantly ascend into it and join those, which, not having been disturbed, are quiet in their new abode; next morning before sunrise remove this newly united hive to the place in which it is to remain; this doubled population will work with double success and in the most perfect harmony, and generally become a strong stock from which much profit may be derived.
Two Casts or weak Swarms may be joined in the same manner, although one of them may have swarmed some days or even weeks later than the other, taking care however not to make the first one enter the second, but the second the first, a third and a fourth parcel of Bees may be joined to them at different times till the stock becomes strong.
It is almost impossible sufficiently to impress upon the mind of every person who keeps Beesthe necessity of having his stocks all strong, for weak stocks are very troublesome, very expensive, and seldom, if ever, afford any profit.
Mr. Taylor says, "the stronger the colony at the outset the better the Bees will work, and the more prosperous it will become. I never knew a weak one do well long, and a little extra expense and trouble at first are amply rewarded by succeeding years of prosperity and ultimate profit;" and again, "thus strength in one year begets it in succeeding ones, and this principle ought to be borne in mind by those who imagine that the deficient population of one season will be made up in the next, and that the loss of Bees in the winter is of secondary consequence, forgetting how influential is their warmth to the earlier and increased productive powers of the Queen, and how important it is in the opening spring to be able to spare from the home duties of the hive a number of collectors, to add to the stores, which would otherwise not keep pace with the cravings of the rising generation."
It is a remarkable fact, that two weak stocks joined, will collect double the quantity of honey, and consume much less than two of the same age and strength kept separately. Stocks must be joined after sunset upon the day that one of them has swarmed, or before sunrise the next morning, and the doubled stock must be placed upon the stand it previously occupied. Great care must be taken not to shake the hive, nor must it be turned up, the combs being new, and tender, will easily break, and the stock by that means be destroyed.