Alden,
You may try this: Make a hive from a part of your supers with a bottom
board and a cover somewhere in a corner of your apiary. Leave about 2 cm
bottom entrance open (or one augher hole in a super if they have them).
Instead this everything should be bee tight. Take a peace of
cardboard or something simillar with some drops of honey  and insert
it in the bottom entrance of one strong colony. After several seconds
transfere the trace with worker bees drinking honey into the entrance of
the new hive. If field bees are transfered, they  make orientation flights
when leaving the new source of honey. They will inform another field bees
in their colony and come back with them. After some time the colony makes
an air-road between the home and your new "hive". Provided the new hive
has only ONE VERY SMALL entrance the bees will defend it against scout bees
from other colonies. After the first portion of honey is exhausted you can
change the empty supers for the new ones. This may be better to be done in
the evening WHEN THE FLYING ACTIVITY CEASED. At the start of the process
certain danger exists for other colonies in the apiary since they will be
inspected by scount bees as potential sources of honey, too. Nevertheles,
if colonies are in proper condition, they will successfully defend.
(For the less experienced beekeepers it may be better to start only with
one super - maybe even containing only one frame with honey - and only when
the matter develops as described above more supers can be added.) Finally
one empty hive body with one dry comb should be left on the place
what is a signal for the bees to wind up.
 
Best regards,
Vladimir Ptacek
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