SEPTEMBER 1. 1916 



■787 



eells, which are siinihir 

 in shape but laiuei' than 

 the worker-cells. 



I had examined the 

 colony only the day be- 

 fore, and had seen that 

 the queen-cells were al- 

 most ready to hatch; 

 still I felt a thrill any- 

 way when some one 

 near the beeyard yell- 

 ed, "Come quick ! your 

 bees are swarming!" 

 Hurriedly adjusting' my 

 veil and gloves (for J 

 had not then sufficienL 

 self-confidence to risk 

 handling them without 

 some sort of protection) 

 T ran to the scene of ac- 

 tion. The air seemed 

 tilled with bees dai'ting 

 in every direction, mak- 

 ing the morning beauti- 

 ful to me by the sun- 

 light glints flashing from 

 their rapidly whii-ring 

 wings. They were all 

 about me, whirling and 

 humming, apparently 

 with no thought of set- 

 tling into the cluster I 

 so anxiously waited for 

 them to form. Being 

 a novice I might have 

 been terrified, in spite 

 of my armor, to be in 

 the center of such ai 

 madly rushing mass of 

 bees had I not known 

 that; far from being) 

 hostile, they were in the 

 liappiest frame of mind possible. I knew 

 their honey-sacs were laden with honey in 

 preparation for their unknown journey in 

 quest of a new abiding-place, for they al- 

 ways leave their old home witlf true holiday 

 spirit. 



After ten or fifteen minutes of patient 

 watching I was gTad to note that they had 

 begiui to form a cluster on a peach-tree 

 limb near bj'. I waited till the cluster was 

 completed and the bees quiet. Then with 

 black Bill's assistance I carefully cut the 

 limb, and with cautious step earned the 

 entire cluster to the new hive which I had 

 previously set in a shady place. The new 

 hive was fitted with frames of wax founda- 

 tion, which, T find, saves the bees some work 

 besides insuring straight comb, as the eells 

 are built with mathematical precision on 

 each side of the foundation. After reach- 



60,000 bees on the miuch into tlieir new home. 



ing tlie hive safely I quickly drew up a 

 hiving-board to the entrance, and, with a 

 quick jerk, shook the bees upon it in front 

 of their new home. With a soft brush I lost 

 no time in starting the main body of the 

 confused mass of bees toward the hive. 

 They readily entered, for the stately queen 

 graciously led the way. Had the queen for 

 any reason not gone into the hive, no 

 amount of persuasion could have caused the 

 other bees to remain inside; instead, upon 

 discovering her absence they would have 

 soon returned to the parent hive, probably 

 to swarm again within the next few days 

 under the leadership of one of the newly 

 hatched queens. 



After the first or " primary " swarm in 

 the spring there may be one or more 

 swarms, known as " secondary " swarms, 

 within a week or ten days as the young 



