swaeming; 



429 



SWAEMING. 



casionally a swarm will make for the top of 

 a tall tree. With the pump we head them 

 ofE,,causingthem to settle on a lower branch. 

 Even when a swarm is clustered twenty or 

 thirty feet from the ground, by adjusting the 

 stream nozzle and letting it play directly on 

 the swarm itself, we can, many times, dis- 

 lodge them, causing them to take wing and 

 finally settle again ui)on a lower point of at- 

 tachment. Again, several swarms will come 

 out simultaneously, and two or more at- 

 tempt to cluster together. By the timely use 

 of the spray, each swarm can be kept sepa- 

 rate by dampening the wings of the strag- 

 glers of the two swarms about to come to- 

 gether. A good many times a swarm that 

 is about to abscond can be headed off and 

 made to cluster; in fact, our boys, during 

 the summer of 1889, would drive a swarm 

 about like a flock of sheep. It is very an- 

 noying and inconvenient to have a swarm 

 pass from our premises over to those of a 

 neighbor. During the summer of 1889 we 

 had something like eight or ten swarms 

 come out every day for nearly a week, and 

 yet in only one or two cases did they leave 

 the immediate vicinity of the apiary; and 

 had it not been for the pump, we should, in 

 all probability, have had to chase all over 

 the neighborhood, to say nothing about 

 climbing tall trees.* 



After a swarm begins to cluster on a de- 

 sirable spot, stop spraying in that direction. 

 Eetreat, and drive the stragglers toward it, 

 but be careful not to spray the place where 

 they are clustering. As a general rule, two 

 or three small clusters will be forming at 

 once. Spray the undesirable ones, and keep 

 them sprayed until these points of attach- 

 ment are abandoned. 



During the swarming-season it is a good 

 idea to keep several barrels of water in and 

 around the immediate vicinity of the apiary, 

 so as to have the same handy. If you must 

 run to the pimip every time you need a pail 

 of water, the swarm may get away from you, 

 or cluster in the top of a tall tree. 



SWARM-CATCHEK. 



This is simply a large wire-cloth cage, in 

 the shape of an oblong box, about three or 

 four feet high, by 12 or 15 inches square, one 

 end being open, and made to fit against an 

 ordinary hive-front. 



It very often happens that the apiarist is 

 on hand just at the time the swarm pours 

 out the entrance like hot shot. Well, with 



* We didn't then clip the wings of our queens as 

 we now do, hence that chasing is dispensed with. 



one of these swarm-catchers handy he sim- 

 ply attaches the mouth to the entrance, 

 and the outpouring bees fly pell-mell into 

 the top of the cage, and are there confined. 

 When tlie apiarist succeeds in catching two- 

 thirds of the bees, the rest will cluster 

 on the outside. Then the cage is set very 

 near where the bees come forth, mouth end 

 down. Meanwhile he prepares his hive, if 

 he has not already done so, and then brings 

 the cage of bees and dumps them right into 

 the hive, replaces the cover, and the swarm 

 is hived without having had any swarm in 

 the air— no, not even giving them a ghost of 

 a chance to fly all over the neighborhood. 



lit ^ V //ff'""^ TfTTr- 



SWAK3I-0ATCHKR. 



and possibly finally alight upon the limb of 

 a tree 40 feet from the ground. But it 

 should be borne in mind that the swarm- 

 catcher is serviceable only when the apiarist 

 happens to be on the ground just as the bees 

 are beginning to pour forth. 



We consider a large cage that comes down 

 over the whole hive much better than some- 

 thing adjusted to the entrance, as shown 

 above. The one shown in the half-tone, page 

 386, is more quickly applied, because it can 

 be clapped down over the hive and stop pi o- 

 ceedings instanter. As soon as the bees are 

 all out, lift up the cage gently, and carry it 

 to the hive where you propose to dump the 

 swarm. Hold the cage squarely over the 

 prepared hive with its cover off, and give it 

 one quick jounce. This will dislodge tl e 

 bees so that most of them will land in and 

 around the hive. As soon as they have set- 

 tled, remove the cage and put on the cover. 



THE AUTOMATIC HIVING OF SWABIMS. 



Tor many years back there has been an 

 effort on the part of bee-keepers of an in- 

 ventive turn of mind to get up an arrange- 

 ment that would automatically hive swarms 



