2l8 



Nature-Study Agriculture 



Capturing 

 a swarm 



How to 

 keep safe 



W. T. Skilling 



FIG. 170. A young beekeeper. He is wearing a wire-gauze veil and long gloves. 

 The frame that he holds above the hive contains sealed brood and honey. On the 

 hive hangs a smoker, and just to the right is a super filled with pound frames. 

 On top of the super is a chisel for prying frames apart, and beside the chisel 

 stands a pound frame, in the top half of which a strip of foundation has been put 

 in place. At the extreme right is a super to hold the two large frames leaning 

 against it. One of these frames shows foundation all the way across; the other 

 shows foundation only halfway across. 



clusters. Here the bees remain for a day or two while a 

 few, acting as scouts, go out in search of a permanent 

 home. When a suitable place is found, perhaps in a 

 hollow tree or an unused chimney, the swarm follows 

 the scouts to it, and housekeeping is again set up. While 

 the bees are resting in a cluster, it is an easy matter 

 to capture the swarm. One needs only to put an empty 

 hive close up under the cluster and shake the bees into it. 

 They generally are content in the hive, especially if it 

 contains some honeycomb. 



The bee's sting has made it unpopular, but the sting 

 is seldom used unless the hive is opened or disturbed in 

 some way. Opening the hive and handling the bees 



