"96 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



April 



old way used to be, when the bees 

 swarmed, the women-f«lks and all 

 hands were out with the bells and the 

 tin pans, and there was din and clatter 

 until the bees settled, which was not 

 nearly as soon as they would have 

 if they had been alone. It is nice to 

 have some small, smooth trees near by, 

 but should not be allowed to get over 

 about 12 feet high — smaller are better 

 — for the bees to cluster on. No large 

 trees should be near the apiary, as 

 they are apt to make trouble. If you 

 have no trees, just go to the woods and 

 cut some, and put in front of the api- 

 ary about two rods. Put down as you 

 would a hop pole. The bees will clus- 

 ter on them, and you can pull and 

 carry the swarm where you choose. 



Now, I will give you my plan. 

 When you first see a swarm coming 

 out, go quietly to the hive, stand be- 

 side it, and see if the queen is able to 

 fly with the swarm — if not, you will 

 find her on the ground, if you are on 

 hand. If she is not able to fly, place 

 her in a cage quickly, and put her 

 with the swarm, or else remove the old 

 hive out of the way, and place a new 

 empty one on the stand. Place the 

 queen in it, and the swarm will hive 

 themselves, although care should be 

 taken and not let them go into other 

 hives, as they sometimes will. 



Now when the queen flies with the 

 swarm : If you wish them to alight 

 quickly, don't get in their way, nor in- 

 terrupt them , unless they should move 

 in a direction where there are no trees. 

 In that case, sprinkle with water, or 

 scatter dust among them. The first, 

 or prime swarm, will rarely ever try to 

 run away if properly treated. 



I use a light box on a pole about ten 

 feet long. The box is like an old- 



fashioned box hive, with one end 

 open, and lots of holes bored in it for 

 a swarm-catcher. When about two 

 quarts of the bees have clustered, put 

 the box up and shake them in, and 

 turn the open end out so the others 

 can fly in, and if you don 't do this too 

 soon, they will all go right in, or on the 

 box. You can just lean the box up 

 against the tree if the pole is the right 

 length, and prepare the hive, if not 

 ready. 



Right here let me say, the hive must 

 be large enough so the bees will have 

 reasonable room, and the entrance 

 large enough, and the hive must be 

 well shaded or they will not stay. 



When the bees are all settled in the 

 box, you can carry them where you 

 wish. To hive them, take the top of 

 the hive off, and the queen excluder, 

 and put a quart or two in to start them ; 

 put the excluder and covers on care- 

 fully, and shake some in front of the 

 entrance. They will go in. You can 

 hurry them up by brushing them care- 

 fully. When you pour some of the 

 bees out, hold the box out of the waa, 

 or it will draw them to it. Gently 

 tapping on the hive will help to get 

 them in. You can put sections on im- 

 mediately, •r extracting super over a 

 queen excluding honey-board. 



Should the bees be very cross while 

 swarming, the smoker is the bes^t rem- 

 edy. If you shake them off the tree, 

 and they fall some distance' they will 

 be angry. I have kept bees on the 

 above plan for 17 years, and have 

 found it reliable. I seldom, if ever, 

 have any " runaways.,' 



Ono, Wisconsin. 



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