It is very plain that a queen from such finished cell must be ready to deposit eggs several days sooner than by any other method that we can adopt. It is also clear that if we have a dozen queens depositing eggs by the 10th of June, that our bees are increasing faster, on the whole, than if but half that number are engaged in it for a month later. There is yet another advantage. The sooner a young queen can take the place of the old one in maternal duties, the less time will be lost in breeding, the more bees there will be to defend the combs from the moth, and the surest guaranty for surplus honey.
When the bees have filled their sacks, proceed to drive them into the upper hive by striking the lower one rapidly from five to ten minutes. A loud humming will mark their first movement. When you think half or two-thirds are out, raise the hive and inspect progress. They are not at all disposed to sting in this stage of proceeding, even when they escape outside. If full of honey, they are seldom provoked to resentment. The only care will be not to crush too many that get between the edges of the hives. The loud buzzing is no sign of anger. If your swarm is not large enough, continue to drive till it is. When done, the new hive should be set on the stand of the old one. A few minutes will decide whether you have the queen with the swarm, as they remain quiet: otherwise uneasy, and run about, when it will be necessary to drive again.
If both hives are one color, set the old one two feet in front; but if of different colors, a little more. I prefer this position to setting the old stock on one side, even when there is room; yet it can make but little difference. Should you set it on one side, let the distance be less. When the old stock is taken much farther than this rule, all the bees that have marked the location (and all the old ones will have done so) will go back to the old stand, and none but young bees that have never left home will remain. The same will be the case with the new swarm if moved off. It will not do to depend on the old queen keeping them, as she does when they swarm out naturally. This has been my experience. Try it, reader, and be satisfied, by putting either of the hives fifteen or twenty feet distant.