THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



487 



rqr the American Bee JoumaL 



Hiving Swarms of Bees. 



O. M. DOOLITTLE. 



After reading W. Z. Iliuchinson's 

 article uiuler the above lieailiug, in a 

 late number of the Bee Journal, I 

 cannot lielp but thinlv tliat lie and 

 others do not understand how to treat 

 swarms issuing with queens having 

 clipped wings. The ease with which 

 natural swarming is conducted where 

 all the queens have their wings clip- 

 ped, is one of the greatest reasons I 

 iave for clipping queens" wings. 



Because the queen has her wing 

 clipped, it does not follow of necessity 

 that the swarm must be hived on the 

 returning-plan, nor that the queen 

 should be lost in the grass or stepped 

 upon as Mr. II. says ; for, in an ex- 

 perience covering a period of 14 years 

 with every queen's wing clipped in 

 my apiary, I have yet to step on, or 

 lose the lirst queen from any cause 

 arising from her having a clipped 

 wing. In fact, I am so well pleased 

 witli the plan of natural swarming, 

 ■with queen's wings clipped, that I am 

 led to give my plan of treating such 

 swarms, so that the reader may com- 

 pare it with Mr. II. 's, and thus de- 

 cide which to adopt. If I shall so ex- 

 plain it that any of the cares and 

 burdens of my fellow apiarists are 

 lightened, I shall feel well repaid for 

 my effort in the explanation. 



Before proceeding, I wish to say 

 that Mr. H. has given us the best 

 article on hiving bees where the 

 queens are allowed to go with the 

 swarm, that I have ever seen in print; 

 for he gives us a view of some of the 

 hard work, climbing of ladders, de- 

 spoiling of an orchard by sawing off 

 limbs, etc., which always attends that 

 plan ; and had he told us of swarms 

 settling on the large trunks of trees, 

 and in other places where scraping 

 and smoking the bees off was the 

 ■dernier resort, the picture would have 

 been complete. 



For the past live years I have hived 

 very few swarms by the returning- 

 plan, but when I do the plan is thus : 

 When a swarm is seen issuing, I (or 

 3Irs. D.) step to the rear of the hive 

 and then look on the grass to one side 

 of it to see if there are many bees 

 there, thereby indicating the presence 

 of the queen ; and if not, step up on 

 that side and glance over the ground 

 in front of the hive. If the swarm 

 has nearly done issuing, the queen is 

 readily found by a little cluster of 

 bees being about her. If just com 

 menced to swarm, look at, or near the 

 entrance where she will be seen run- 

 ning as soon as she comes out. Have 

 on hand a round wire-cloth cage, IM 

 inches in diameter by 8 inches long, 

 made by rolling a piece of wire cloth 

 around a stick, and sowing the sides 

 together, when a stopper is to be fit- 

 ted in each end. 



As soon as the queen is seen, place 

 the cage in such a way that she will 

 crawl into it, and if a few bees go in 

 with her, all the better. Now move 

 the old hive back, and place in its 

 place the one which the swarm is to 

 occupy, when the cage with the queen 

 is to be laid near the entrance. Place 

 the old hive wliere you wish it to 

 stand, or move it up beside the new 

 hive at right angles, a la Heddon. as 

 you prefer. Have on liand two sheets, 

 one of which is to be placed on each 

 of the hives on either side nearest the 

 one now awaiting the swarm, so that 

 they can be spread over them should 

 the swarm attempt to enter these 

 hives upon returning, which they 

 rarely will do if the queen, with a few 

 bees, is left at the entrance of the new 

 hive. Leave the queen caged until 

 nearly all the bees have entered the 

 hive (or become clustered on the out- 

 side, as they sometimes will do), and 

 are quiet, when you will let the queen 

 go in. By thus keeping the queen 

 caged, you will avoid the difficulty of 

 her running out, and the bees with 

 her, as spoken of by Mr. H. 



If they are clustered on the outside 

 of the hive, let them become quiet 

 after the queen is out of the cage, 

 when you will detach a few and start 

 them to running into the hive ; then 

 detach more bees, and so on until all 

 have run in. 



If several swarms come out to- 

 gether, more sheets are needed, so 

 that if more than the right proportion 

 of bees draw toward one of the new 

 hives placed on the old stands, a 

 sheet can be thrown over until they 

 go as you wish them to. But, as I 

 said at the outset, this plan of hiving 

 does not necessarily follow having the 

 queen's wing clipped, although many 

 prefer it. The simplest plan, and the 

 one I use most, is to go to the woods 

 and cut a light, tough pole, which will 

 reach to the top of my tallest tree, 

 providing that it is not more than 20 

 to 25 feet high. If swarms attempt 

 to cluster higher than this, I always 

 use the returning-plan above given. 

 Have the large end of this pole sharp- 

 ened so it can be pressed into the 

 ground when necessary. Near the 

 upper end of it fasten a few dry mul- 

 lien tops, or a roll of black rags, as 

 large around as your arm, and a foot 

 long, when your pole is ready. 



When a swarm issues, proceed to 

 get the queen as before, and when 

 caught, secure the cage to the black 

 bunch at the top by means of a bent 

 wire. Raise the pole in the air, and 

 keep it where the bees are the thick- 

 est, when they will often alight on 

 the pole; and if not, they will soon 

 select a spot to alight upon the same 

 as they would if the queen was flying 

 with tliem, for her presence is known 

 to them just the same as if she had 

 her wing whole and was among them. 



As soon as they begin to alight, 

 place the pole in such a position that 

 the queen and black b>uich comes in 

 the place they are clustering, and 

 leave it thus while you are preparing 

 a hive for them. When they are par- 

 tially clustered, raise the pole, or 

 push it up and out, so that the queen 

 and bunch of rags, with the bees on 



them, is a foot or so from the limb, 

 when all the bees will cluster with the 

 queen ; after which you can carry 

 tliem wlierever you please, the same 

 as Mr. 11. does his branch after he 

 has cut it oft. 



You shoidd also hive them as he 

 tells you,i)y first detaching a small 

 part of the cluster, and after they 

 start up the call of a " home is found," 

 detach more, and lastly let the queen 

 go in. 



No matter in how bad a place they 

 cluster, the operation of getting the 

 swarm on the pole is always simple, 

 and there is no need of being in a 

 hurry, for they cannot go to the woods 

 if left hanging on the pole in the hot 

 sun all day ; for should they attempt 

 it, they would soon come back to 

 their queen, as I have often had them 

 do. 



Now we will suppose that the sec- 

 ond, third or fourth swarm issues be- 

 fore you get ready to hive the first (a 

 thing which very often happens), 5'ou 

 have not got to work as did Mr. H. 

 with his fountain pump " till you are 

 almost in despair" to keep them 

 apart, but simply let them cluster on 

 the pole, and you are at liberty to pre- 

 pare the second, third, or fourth hive, 

 as the case may be, leaving a queen 

 in front of each hive except the first, 

 as that has the queen on the pole. 

 When all are clustered, take the pole 

 and carry it to one of the hives having 

 a queen in front of it, when you will 

 proceed to hive them as at first, till 

 you have got the right proportion of 

 bees for one hive, then go to the next, 

 leaving enough for a colonv there, 

 and so on until all are hived as you 

 wish them. 



All is done with a perfect ease and 

 certainty, which no other plan can 

 give. I often leave the bees hanging 

 on this pole two or three hours, or 

 till I get other pressing business done, 

 when I hive them at my leisure ; the 

 only caution being necessary is to see 

 that the pole is so fixed that it cannot 

 break from the great weight of bees, 

 and that the queens not with the 

 cluster have a few bees with them to 

 feed them, or are otherwise fed. 



Again, if I wish to hive two or more 

 swarms in one hive, as I frequently 

 do in the latter part of the honey sea- 

 son, I do not have to hunt out the 

 queens, for one is kept with the 

 swarm, and the others I let go back 

 into their old hive. 



One more item, and I leave the sub- 

 ject. Many seem to think there is 

 danger of losin,^ the queen when her 

 wing is clipped, if a swarm issues 

 wheli the apiarist is not at home ; but 

 such is not the case, for some of the 

 returning swarm is sure to find and 

 cluster about the queen if she does 

 not get back. When I return, after 

 an absence, I go over the yard, be- 

 tween each row of hives, looking on 

 the ground, and if a swarm has is- 

 sued, and the queen failed to return, 

 I find a little knot of bees on the 

 ground from the size of a butternut to 

 that of a goose egg, in which will be 

 the queen. Now comes the perplex- 

 ing part to many, which is, to find 

 where a swarm found hanging on a 

 limb, or where such a queen came 



