SWARMING. 



427 



SWARMING. 



half or wholly completed, run the basket 

 up to and around the cone of bees. An assist- 

 ant, if present, gives the limb a jar, so as to 

 disengage the bees into the basket. In case 

 no one is ready to assist, a sliding move- 

 ment will precipitate the cluster into the 

 wire-cloth cage, when it is quickly lowered. 

 This operation, in passing down through the 

 limbs, will usually catch the wire-cloth lid, 

 and close it with a slam. In case it is not 

 closed, the apiarist steps forward and does 

 it himself. Half or two-tliirds of the bees 

 are generally confined. In all probability 

 the queen is there also. As the bees can not 

 get out, those still flying in the air will very 

 readily cluster on the wire cloth, surround- 

 ing the majority of their companions inside. 

 To make this more expeditious the tripod 

 is adjusted and the cage suspended in the 

 air, as shown in Fig. 2, right where the bees 

 are flying thickest. In two or three min- 

 utes the remainder of the bees will be clus- 

 tered on the outside. At this stage of the 

 proceeding the apiarist comes forward, folds 

 the two short legs against the pole, grasps it 

 at its center of gravity (see Fig. 1), and walks 

 off to the hive, which he has previously pre- 

 pared. The wire fork is made of steel, and 

 is light and springy. The walking of the 

 apiarist has no tendency to jar the bees off 

 the basket. 



One of the special features of the Manum 

 arrangement is that the basket can be adjust- 

 ed to almost any position, all the way from 

 two to ten feet off the ground. All that 

 is necessary is to spread the tripod legs, 

 catch them into the ground, and leave them 

 standing. In the mean time, unless the hive 

 is already prepared, the apiarist has ample 

 time to get it ready. After this he can re- 

 turn to the swarm just now clustered. Most 

 of the devices require to be held until the 

 cluster has settled. It is a tedious job to 

 hold a pole at arms' length, with face up- 

 turned. If the swarm clusters very high, 

 some other arrangement, perhaps, would be 

 better than the Manum; but for low shrub- 

 bery it is just the thing. The other special 

 feature of the device is, that, after you have 

 gotten about half or tw^o-thirds of the bees 

 into the basket, they can not escape and seek 

 their original point of attachment. 



THE SWARM-IIIVING HOOK. 



With most of the hiving-devices we have 

 illustrated, what might be called a hiving- 

 hook can be used to considerable advan- 

 tage at times. It is simply an iron hook 

 large enough to compass an ordinary limb 

 on which swarms cluster, mounted on the 



end of a long pole, and resembling, some- 

 what, a shepherd's crook. One of the hiv- 

 ing-devices is passed beneath the swarm. 

 Tbis hook can be used to reach over, grasp 

 the limb on which the swarm is clustered, 

 and by one or two smart jerks jar the bees 

 into the basket, bag, or box, as the case 

 may be. 



stkimpl's swakmestg-laddek. 



Swarms usually alight low, so the ordi- 

 nary hiving-apparatus and tools previously 

 described can reach them from the ground. 

 But there are times wiien they will settle on 

 pretty high limbs. It is then that a ladder 

 is called into requisition . If it will not reach 

 the swarm it can at least land the climber 

 among the upper limbs, so that he can step 

 from one limb to another, and finally reach 

 the bees. But it is difficult to stand an or- 

 dinary ladder against a limb of a tree so that 

 it will be secure for climbing, on account of 

 the unevenness of the branches. A foreigner 

 by the name of R. Strimpl, of Seltzschau, 

 Bohemia, sent us a drawing of a ladder that 

 can be lodged— that is, the upper part of it— 

 securely on some limb above. The engrav- 

 ing illustrates its principle of application. 



The two side feet, or forks, prevent the 

 ladder from revolving, while it will be ob- 

 served that the ladder termiiuites in a single 

 pole, which may be very easily lodged in the 

 fork of a limb, where a two-pronged ladder 

 can not. The three ju-ongs below the lad- 

 der are sharpened at the end, and securely 

 pushed into the ground. The perfect lodg- 

 ment of the other end in the crotch of the 

 limb makes the ladder a safe means of as- 



