The Book of Sports, page 89 by William Martin
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other side. Proceed thus,--sweeping the bees off every comb back into the hive with the feather, till you come to the centre comb. The only nicety consists in blowing away the bees to prevent any of them being crushed. If the operation be neatly done, scarcely any bees will be killed. Take the hive now and replace it on its stand as before.
The next thing to be done is to join the bees, from which the honey has been so taken, to another hive in which you wish them to be accommodated, which may be done as follows:--In the evening, if you look into the hive which has been deprived of its honey, you will find all the bees hanging in the centre, just like a new swarm. Bring the hive near the one to which they are to be joined,--get about a table spoonful of raw honey or syrup, so thin as to pour easily, and have it in a jug beside the hive which is to receive the strangers,--blow a few whiffs of tobacco smoke in the door of the hive, then turn it up and give them an additional puff or two, and pour the honey or syrup from the jug all over the bees between the combs, so that they may be quite smeared over. Then spread a clean linen cloth on the ground in front of the hive, with one edge of it placed on the floor of the hive and secured there by two stones, to prevent its falling, and which will also serve to keep the hive a little raised from its floor on that side; now replace the hive so that the edge of the cloth may be under it while the two stones keep it raised about an inch; next take the hive containing the bees, hold it steadily over the cloth, and by one sudden blow, knock out all the bees upon the cloth in a lump. They will immediately begin to climb up and enter the new hive. If they were to be united without previously smearing one of them with honey or syrup, the chance is, that half of both hives would be killed by fighting.
Hives may be either of straw or wood. Bees thrive equally well in either. In winter the hives should be placed in a northern exposure, or, at any rate, the sun shou