ARTIFICIAL SWA.RMESTG. 181 



Thousands of the bees that belong to B, as they return 

 from the fields,* will enter .4, which thus secures enough 

 to develop the brood, rear a new queen, and gather, if the 

 season is favorable, large surplus stores. 



If B had been first forced, and then removed, it would 

 (p. 156) have been seriously injured ; but as it loses fewer 

 bees than if it had swarmed, and retains its queen, it 

 will soon become almost as powerful as before it was re- 

 moved.! 



This method of forming colonies may be practiced, on 

 any pleasant day, from sunrise until late in the afternoon ; 

 for if no bees are abroad to recruit the drummed hive, 

 it may be shut up, until it can be put upon the stand of 

 any strong stock which has already begun to fly with 

 vigor. Of all the methods which I have devised for prac- 

 ticing artificial swarming,| with almost any kind of 

 hive, this appears to be one of the simplest, safest, and 



* It is quite amusing to observe the actions of these bees, when they return to 

 their old stand, if the strange hive is like their own in size and outward appear- 

 ance, they go in as though all was right, but soon rush out in violent agitation, 

 Imagining that by some unaccountable mistake, they have entered the wrong 

 place. Taking wing to correct their blunder, they find, to their increasing surprise 

 that they had directed their flight to the proper spot ; again they enter, and again 

 they tumble out, in bewildered crowds, until at length if they find a queen, or the 

 means of raising one, they make up their minds that if the strange hive is not 

 home, it looks like it, stands where it ought to be, and is, at all events, the only 

 home they are likely to get. No doub* they often feel that a very hard bargain 

 has been imposed upon them, but they are generally wise enough to make the best 

 of it They will be altogether too much disconcerted to quarrel with any bees 

 that were left in the hive when it was forced, who on their part give them a wel- 

 come reception. 



t Might not a forced swarm be made to adhere to a new location, by thoroughly 

 shaking them in an empty box see note on p. 163 and then setting them on their 

 new stand, and permitting them to fly ? The queen might be confined, for safety, 

 in a queen-cage. 



$ The Apiarian, by treating a natural swarm as he has been directed to treat a 

 forced one, can secure an increase of one colony from two ; and of all the methods 

 of conducting natural swarming, in regions where rapid increase is not profitable, 

 this is the best, provided the colonies do not stand too close together, and the 

 hives used in the process are alike in shape and color. 



