318 MANAGEMENT FIRST AND SECOND SWARMS. 



wing or bough. The hive is then to be covered 

 with a sheet or table-cloth. In which situation it is 

 to be left till night, when it may be removed to the 

 station allotted for it. The swarm .should never be 

 placed in the immediate vicinity of the parent hive, 

 in order to prevent any confusion in the choice of 

 the hives which the bees have to enter. On this and 

 all similar cases of danger from the sting of the insects, 

 the too common practice of acting without cover for 

 the exposed parts of the body, is most rash and 

 indiscreet. The injury received may be consider- 

 able, and besides, a person without defence cannot 

 act with the necessary coolness and effect. The neck, 

 hands, and legs should be covered, the face defended 

 by a mask of thin iron wire, and a linen hood or cloth 

 thrown over the cap upon the head, the hood to fall 

 and be fastened below the shoulders. 



The SWARM may divide itself into several clusters, 

 in which case there are several queens ; on being hived 

 together the bees will kill the supernumerary queens. 

 But when an individual swarm is hived and the bees 

 are restless and discontented, it may be judged that 

 they have no queen, in course that they will not 

 remain. A queen must be immediately provided for 

 them from the parent stock. Queens are discovered 

 by their being surrounded by small groups of bees. 

 FIRST swarms from different hives uniting, must be 

 separated. The management of second swarms forms 

 a very interesting branch of the apiarian science, as 

 'its success depends so much on the skill and experi- 

 ence of the proprietor. In saying that first swarms 

 only are worth preserving, we speak of general cases, 



