84 



THE AMEKICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



bees, and placing the hives nearly equidistant 

 as far asunder as practicable. Now shake out 

 on the sheet in front of each hive a portion of 

 the bees, proceding thus from one hive to an- 

 other, till a nearly equal division has been made. 

 Then carry each hive to a dark chamber, and 

 if the bees in each remain quiet, the operation 

 1ms been successful, and they may, at dusk, be 

 removed to their allotted stands. But if the 

 bees, in any one of them, become restless, we 

 must renew the process by shaking out the quiet 

 portion once more, and letting them run into 

 two separate hives again. As the number of 

 bees is now much smaller, the queens may gen- 

 erally be seen moving forward in the crowd. 

 If only one is seen, she should be gently seized 

 and given to the hive which is restless and re- 

 mains in the dark chamber. If only two swarms 

 had clustered together, the division will now 

 have been afi'ected ; but if three or more had 

 united, we may have to repeat the process till 

 all the queens have been separately secured. It 

 requires in expert to perform this operation 

 satisfactorily ; and without the assistance of an 

 experienced person we would not advise a 

 novice to undertake it. When only two swarms 

 unite, we never deem it expedient to separate 

 them, as the united body is sure to constitute a 

 good stock, worth much more than two weak 

 ones. 



5. Bees will sometimes continue to "hang 

 out" for weeks without swarming. This is par- 

 ticularly vexatious when honey abounds, and a 

 large number of workers are idling away their 

 time. In such cases we add a super to the hive, 

 or give the bees access to a surplus honey box, 

 thus enlarging the room. But if the hive is 

 populous, and the season favorable, we prefer 

 to cut the matter short by driving out a swarm. 



The most convenient mode of securing a first 

 swarm is to capture the queen as she issues from 

 the Iiive. She commonly makes her ai^pearance 

 when half the swarm is out. There is then usu- 

 ally a brief pause in the outpouring stream; 

 then she issues, accompanied by a few work- 

 ers, and may be caught on the alighting board. 

 As she should not be handled roughly, those 

 who fear she might be injured may secure her 

 unharmed by inverting a gill glass over her, 

 and shoving a small piece of tin or a thin card 

 between the glass and the alighting board, and 

 thus confining her. When the entire swarm 

 has Issued, the hive should imniediately be re- 

 moved to some other location, and an empty 

 one resembling it substituted fofit. Then when 

 the returning bees are crowding on its front, li- 

 berate the queen at the entrance, and tliey will 

 promptly take possession of their new home : 

 though, if there is an opening in the top of the 

 hive, we prefer introducing the queen there, 

 and immediately closing it. 



6. Afterswarms, as has already been stated, are 

 to be prevented by removing the parent hive, 

 and setting the first swarm in its place. But what 

 is to be done when this has been neglected, and 

 an after-swarm issued ; and if, moreover, we do 

 not know from AVhich hive the after-swarm 

 came ? It is easy to ascertain whence it came, 

 if a few hundred of tiie bees be put in a narrow- 

 necked bottle, and its mouth be presented suc- 



cessively to different hives. They will refuse 

 to enter any of those from which they did not 

 come, but will at once commence fanning and 

 eagerly rejoin their parent stock. They must 

 not, however, be reunited with the latter, as 

 that would almost certainly lead to the issue ol' 

 another after-swarm. Place it where the parent 

 hive stood, and give the latter a new location, 

 as in the case of a first swarm. It may, how- 

 ever, be advantageously united with some other 

 colony, thereby strengthening this, and avoid- 

 ing the probable vexation of having to nurse a 

 feeble stock. 



The process is as follows : The swarm should 

 be hived in a box or basket in the usual man- 

 ner, and set in a cool, dark chamber till evening. 

 Meanwhile dig a hole in your yard or garden of 

 such dimensions as suit the size of the box or 

 hive which contains the swarm and that of the 

 stock to which it is intended to be united, and 

 six or eight inches deep. Soon after dusk carry 

 both hives thither, set that containing the swarm 

 on the pit, and by stricking a smart blow on it 

 with your hand, cause the swarm to drop into 

 it. Instantly throwing the empty hive aside, 

 lift the other from its bottom board, and set it 

 over the pit, closing any holes or openings there 

 may chance to be between the hive and the 

 ground by covering the line of junction with a 

 strip of cloth or a napkin. The bees of the 

 swarm will at once begin to hum, and immedi- 

 ately ascend and join. the colony placed over 

 them. Let them so remain till next morning, 

 and then replace the hive on its former stanu. 

 We have often removed them the same evening 

 as soon as the bees had ceased humming ana 

 were quiet. In this process of uniting it xs in- 

 dispensable that the hive to which a swarm is 

 to be added, should be already at least partially 

 filled with combs, else both queens may be de- 

 stroyed. If it contains combs, its queen will 

 be as secure therein as in a kind of fortress, and 

 only the one pertaining to the swarm will be 

 destroyed as supernumerary. This process, 

 lirst recommended by Spitzner, we have in- 

 variably found etiicient. it was known and prac- 

 ticed in Tliuringia for more than a century. 



7. After-swarms, like stocks from which 

 swarms have issued, have young queens which 

 must leave their hives in order to become fer- 

 tile, and hence are more liable to become queen- 

 less than first swarms and old stocks which fail 

 to produce swarms. We have never known an 

 instance, in our apiary, where a first swarm be- 

 came queeuless. On the contrary, stocks that 

 have produced a succession of swarms the same 

 season are very apt to prove queenless in the 

 end. These two kinds ot colonies consequently 

 demand constant and close supervision during 

 the swarming season, andlor some weeks after; 

 and the bee-keeper should at that period care- 

 fully avoid standing in ironl of such hives, so 

 as to obstruct the flight of the bees, particularly 

 in the afternoons Of fine days, as thereby queens 

 may be disconcerted and lost. 



8. We may finally adveit to a circumstance 

 sometimes observed in the swarming season. 

 Bees are then occasiomillyseeu pass in and out 

 of crevices in walls, fissures in buildings, <u- 

 holes in hollow trees, frequenting such places 



