120 ONE YEAR AMONG THE BEES. 



been permanently disfigured. Just procure a small box one hold- 

 ing about a peck and put several holes in it to give the swarm ven- 

 tilation, and add a handle some eight to ten feet long to it, so that 

 you may be able to reach up some distance with it. Push it against 

 the cluster of bees and dislodge some of them at the same time, and 

 they will readily go into your box. If they seem to be reluctant 

 about it, give the branch a jolt with your box and dislodge most of 

 the swarm, and then push the box up close to their clustering place. 

 When the bees get well in the box, lower it and shake the remaining 

 bees off the branch, and all will go into the box, when it may be taken 

 to the hive ready to receive them. In hiving them, first brush a 

 small quantity of them down near the entrance of hive, and these 

 will usually go right in and will give the call to the others, when the 

 whole army will move in this direction. When they get well started, 

 shake them all from the swarming box, and they will go in the hive. 

 When bees are thus swarming be very careful and handle them 

 kindly. Do not kill a bee if you can well help it, as they have but 

 one queen, and their whole welfare depends upon her ; you might by 

 rough handling kill her. 



FIG. 17. Hiving swarms. 



Bees cut up many very interesting pranks at swarming time. 

 Swarms will come out frequently, and then return again to the parent 

 hive. They may do this every day for a whole week perhaps, but not 

 usually so often. When a swarm thus returns, the queen has not ac- 

 companied it, and I have had queens that absolutely refused to thus 

 come with the swarm, and apparently nothing whatever to prevent 



