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 ([log in to unmask])