Natural Hive Duplication or Eduction Method

Imagine, I have an existing bee colony on the right hive, and I want to coaxed them into building a new colony in an empty hive on the left.

What I will do is to force the bees (without hurting them) to pass through the new empty hive, by connecting the 2 hive box with a tube.

The coconut is not necessary, but in my case, the bees have built a vertical shaft of propolis over the extrance/exit of my existing hive and uses it as their launch pad as can be seen on the picture below, and I do not want to destroy it, thus the coconut shell.

Here are some detailed pics.  I will have to cover the tube with newspaper to block off the light.

I will put the tube late in the afternoon when all the bees have returned to the hive to get some sleep, and they will probably be surprised and annoyed when they wake up the next day and find the coconut covering their entrance.  So for them to get out and forage, they must learn to go towards the light at the end of the tunnel. Returning back will probably not be much of a problem for them except for the extra walk they need to make.

This empty hive has been used by other colonies before, so there may still be some pheromone residue left. This may help the bees decide to build a new hive here so they will not make the extra walk to the main hive.

If the bees do build a new colony and get established pretty well, I will remove the connecting tube and seal off the hole at the back of the new hive.  I guess the trick will be attaching the tube without disturbing the bees.

Natural Hive Duplication Method has been successfully done by some stingless beekeepers such as Rob Raabe of Ipswich, Queensland;  Tom Carter of Rockhampton; and John Klumpp of Brisbane.  This a very slow method and not 100% successful as compared to "splitting" the hive.  But it is less stressful to the main hive and it's occupants.   This method can also be used to collect colonies from the wild.

Here are some references:
http://www.aussiebee.com.au/abol-003.html
or
PDF version

Eduction Method