150 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



June 



treated. No danger of they going to 

 the woods if vou leave them hancrincr 

 all day, for should they try it, as I had 

 one do once, they will soon come back 

 and cluster about the queen again, 

 there to stay and try to make a home 

 on this limb, unless cared for by the 

 apiarist. If any of the readers of the 

 Progressive wish to have a swarm 

 work in the open air, this gives them 

 the clew to how it can be done. The 

 fourth plan is to cage the queen as 

 before, when a large corn popper is to 

 be so held in front of the hive that the 

 issuing bees will many of them run 

 into it. If you do not see the queen , 

 so as to cage her before the thickest 

 of the bees have left the hive, catch 

 the bees first and then look for the 

 queen. Having the bees in the pop- 

 per and the queen in the cage, attach 

 the cage, by means of a wire hook, to 

 the popper so it will hang snugly to 

 the bottom of the same. Previous to 

 this you should provide yourself with 

 a light pole of sufficient length to 

 reach the highest place where the bees 

 are liable to cluster, into the small end 

 of which there should be bored a hole 

 of the right size so that the popper 

 will screw into it firmly. Having all 

 in readiness, screw the popper in the 

 end of the pole, raising the same and 

 carrying it into the midst of the swarm, 

 where they are flying the thickest in 

 the air. The bees in the popper will 

 fan their wings on the side next to the 

 queen, which tells to the those in the 

 air that they have found the queen 

 and are clustering about her, when as 

 a rule the swarm will at once begin to 

 cluster on the popper also. Some 

 swarms however, are determined to 

 cluster on a tree or nowhere, and in 

 such a case, as soon as one-fourth of 



the bees have clustered on the limb, 

 hold the popper immediately under 

 and up against the limb, when the 

 balance of the bees in the air will be- 

 gin to cluster all over the popper. 

 When about two-thirds of the bees 

 have clustered, draw the popper away 

 from the limb a little, so fixing it that 

 you can leave it, when all of the bees 

 will leave the limb and cluster on the 

 popper as you wish. While you are 

 waiting for them to go from the limb 

 to the popper you can be getting the 

 hive ready, or any other work vou 

 may have to do. As soon as all are 

 clustered on the popper you can car- 

 ry and hive them where you wish, the 

 same as you would had you cut off a 

 limb. Thus it will be seen that we 

 have the bees perfectly in our power in 

 swarming time if we clip the wings of 

 our queens, and can go about the hiv- 

 ing of them with the same deliberation 

 we would if setting down to write an 

 article for the Progressive, with no 

 danger of any swarms getting beyond 

 our control. Some fear losing the 

 queen, should they not be on the 

 ground at once as soon as she leaves 

 the hive with the swarm, but should 

 it so happen that a swarm issues when 

 you are away, the queen will return 

 with the swarm, as a rule, if the alight- 

 ing board reaches the ground so she 

 can do so, and if not she is readily 

 found by looking for the little cluster 

 of bees which will always find her and 

 stay with her when the swarm returns. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



