226 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



August 



see a swarra issuing, I step to one side 

 of the front of the hive and stand 

 about tive feet away, so I can take a 

 view of the whole front of the hive, 

 and two or three feet of the ground 

 in front of the entrance at a ghmce. 

 when if the queen is out, 1 ahnost 

 instantly see her, and if not out I 

 see her as soon as she issues. 1 used 

 to get close to the entrance to look 

 for her, and often looked a long time 

 before 1 found her, owing to the 

 short range of vision which contracted 

 the breadth of the field seen at one 

 time. When the queen is seen, put 

 the open end of the wire-cloth cage 

 down so she can crawl into it, which 

 she will at once do. Now hold it so 

 the open end is down which will 

 prompt her to climb to the top, or 

 away from the open end, and as she is 

 nearing the upper end hold the open 

 end at the entrance to the hive till 

 twenty-five to fifty bees have run in 

 it, as they run swarming out of the 

 hive, when the queen and bees are to 

 be secured by putting in the uovable 

 stopper. Now put the cage in the 

 Manum swarm catcher, and the 

 catcher in one of the poles, when the 

 queen and catcher is held in the midst 

 of the flying bees. By so doing they 

 do not scatter over so large a field as 

 do bees when swarming and not hav- 

 ing a queen with them, as they will 

 often alight on the swarm catcher, 

 beside. If they begin to alight on a 

 tree instead of the catcher, wait a lit- 

 tle till a part have clustered, when by 

 putting the catcher under those clus- 

 tered and giving the limb a little jar 

 by pushing on the pole, they are dis- 

 lodged into the catcher, when the 

 door to it is closed by pulling it 

 against a limb. Now set up the pole 



so that the catcher comes within a 

 foot or two of where the bees began 

 to cluster, when the whole swarm will 

 cluster on the outside of the catcher 

 from the hum of "queen is found," 

 which comes from the bees inside. 

 While the bees are clustering 1 get 

 the hive in p()^iti()u to receive them, 

 if this has not already been done, 

 when they are carried where 1 wish 

 them, hiving them the same as any 

 swarm is hived, allowing the queen to 

 run in with them by unstopping the 

 cage. As the season advances, and 

 it becomes too late for both the old 

 and new swarm to do good work in the 

 sections, I use this plan: Proceed to 

 catch the queen as before, and as soon 

 as you have her, get your new hive 

 and bring it to the old stand. Now 

 set your old hive off a little, or turn 

 it half-way around so it faces an op- 

 posite direction, and place the new 

 one just where the old hive stood, 

 when I place the cage with the queen 

 it it endwise to the entrance till the 

 swarm returns. As soon as the bees 

 miss their queen, which will be any- 

 where from five to thirty minutes, the 

 swarm will come pouring back by the 

 thousand into the hive. W^hen three- 

 fourths, or such a matter are in, take 

 the cage, giving it a little jerk to 

 shake the bees off from it, immediately 

 removing the stopper, when, as soon 

 as the queen runs to the open end, 

 hold it down to the entrance, and she 

 will go in with the bees the same as 

 she would have done had she had her 

 wings and the swarm been hived in 

 the regulation manner of our fathers. 

 If two or more swarms come out at 

 once I always let them alight on the 

 catcher as first given, when I can 

 carry them were I wish, placing half 



