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S'warm VatcUcFS.—Oleanings, for 

 June 15, is on hand, and, as usual, is full of 

 very interesting matter. An article on 

 swarming, and its attendant clustering, is 

 timely and instructive. We will condense 

 it for our readers : 



Tlie swarm basket of Dr. S. W. Morrison, 

 of Oxford, Pa., is thus described : 



It is made of two pieces of pine, 16 feet 

 long, 2x2i.< inches. One side of each is 

 made flat, and a groove tor a rope is made 

 in the centre of each, from top to bottom. 

 The other side of each pole Is rounded. 



The two poles are then placed upright, 

 wit the grooved sides together, the end of 

 one pole being at about the middle of tlie 

 other pole, and both are fastened together 

 with an iron band near the connecting end 

 of each pole. A pully is then put at the 

 upper end of the lower pole, and a rope 

 fastened at the lower end of the upper pole, 

 running up through the groove and over the 

 pully, is used to raise or lower the upper 

 pole. At the upper end of the upper pole a 

 peach-basket is fastened by means of ring 

 staples to which the basket is tied. 



A swarm of bees 35 feet above the ground 

 can be reached by it, and a little jar under 

 the cluster secures the bees in the basket. 

 It is very easily made, inexpensive, and 1 

 am sure there can be none better. 



The corn-popper catcher is thus men- 

 tioned : 



The lid of the popper was thrown back, 

 and the popper itself was crowded up 

 gently against the lower end of the cluster. 

 Tlie bees very soon rolled over and over 

 each other until the popper was level full of 

 them. The wire-cloth top was thrown over, 

 and snapped shut. We did not know 

 whether he had secured the queen or not. 

 It did not matter much, for half or two- 

 thirds of the cluster was confined in the 

 popper, and the queen, if outside, together 

 with the remaining bees, would cluster 

 around their captive comrades. We thrust 

 the handle down into the soft dirt near 

 where the bees were flying quite thick, and 

 the popper was thus supported a couple of 

 feet from the ground, where the bees could 

 get at them. We then left them for an 

 hour or so. When we returned, all the out- 

 side bees were clustered around the popper. 

 They were now in such shape that we could 

 carry them where we pleased, and hive 

 them where we pleased, which we did with 

 entii'e success. 



Mr. A. E. Manum's method of catching 

 and hiving swarms is thus described by him, 

 after stating that he clipped the wings of 

 all his queens : 



I will first give a description of my 

 swarm-catcher ; and as there is no patent 

 on it, all are at liberty to make and use the 

 same. It is simply a wire-cloth cage fast- 

 ened to a pole with two legs, so attached to 

 the pole that they can be set out or in, some- 

 thing like a tripod. The lower end of the 

 pole may be sharpened, to stick in the 

 ground, in order to steady the catcher, and 

 to prevent it from being tipped forward by 

 the weight of the bees. 



The head, or cage, is 10x10 inches square 

 by 1}i thick, and is covered on each side 

 with wire cloth. It is made in two parts, 

 and hinged together, so as to open and close. 

 When closed it is held together by a small 

 hook. One of the parts of the head is fast- 

 ened to the pole, forming a catcher, as may 

 be imagined by referring to the cut. 



The head is made ot %X''h inch stuff, 

 hence is very light. 1 usually furnish 8 or 

 10 of these catchers to each of my apiaries. 



Now, as we have our catchers all made 

 and ready for use, by having them dis- 

 tributed through the apiary in order to have 

 them handy, we will proceed to catch that 

 swarm that is just coming out. We will 

 take this catcher here, and open it ; hold it 

 to the entrance,and catch what bees we can ; 

 close it, and lay it on the ground near by, 

 and watch for the queen. As she comes out, 

 catch and put her in the catcher with the 

 l)ees. Now set up the machine in some 

 shady place, if convenient. The buzzing of 

 the bees and the scent of the queen will 

 soon attract the swarm, when all will alight 

 on the catcher, where they may remain un- 

 til we are ready to hive tnem ; and if we 

 fear another swarm may issue before these 

 are hived, they may be covered with a sheet. 



See ! there comes another swarm ! run 

 with another catcher, and proceed as before, 

 and set this catcher some distance from the 

 first, if we wish to hive the swarms sep- 

 arately. Although the first is covered with 

 a sheet, it is safer to set them apart. In this 

 way we can catch all the swarms that issue, 

 and not be bothered by their clustering to- 

 gether, providing they do not all come out 

 together. 



When all have clustered, we may proceed 

 to hive each separately, or two or tliree to- 

 gether, by taking up a catcher and bees,and 



Manums Suarming Apparatus. 



carrying them to the hive previously pre- 

 pared. We shake off the outside bees in 

 front of the hive, and tlien open the catcher, 

 and shake out the queen and bees, and the 

 work is done. 



If two or more swarms issue at one time, 

 we proceed to catch the few bees and queens 

 as before, using a catcher for each swarm 

 (hence the necessity of several catchers) ; 

 and, as is usually the case when more than 

 one swarm issues at one time, they will 

 mingle and cluster together. In such case 

 we set the catchers near together, and await 

 tlie results. If more bees settle on pne 

 catcher than on the others, we shake them 

 off from this one ; and on rising they will 

 almost always divide up equally, each 

 swarm clustering around its queen. 



If we are too long a time in catching the 

 queens and setting up the catchers, the 

 bees may commence to cluster on a tree. In 

 s.ieh a case it is better to set all the catchers 

 under the cluster; that is, in the tree ; and 

 with a pole with a hook on the end, shake 

 the bees off. Upon rising they will likely 

 locate their queens ; it not, shake them off 

 again, and they will soon all separate, each 

 swarm clustering with its queen,to the great 

 delight of the apiarist. 



There are many other ways to use these 

 catchers that will suggest themselves dur- 

 ing the swarming season. 



Whereupon Mr. Root remarks as follows: 



Our friend Mr. Manum is quite an exten- 

 sive apiarist. In a private note we received 

 from him, he said he was then locating his 

 seventh dut-apiary, so our readers may 

 judge somewhat of (he amount of experi- 

 ence he necessarily has had among bees, 

 and of his ability to judge of a simple aud 

 practical swarming apparatus. 



Just here it occurs to us that there are 

 two ideas worth bringing up. The first is, 

 that, if the queens are not clipped, the 

 queen herself will usually be found on the 

 outside of the cluster, or near the bottom 

 end, for, it is said, bees will never hang to 

 the queen. If, therefore, the corn-popper 

 cage or other receptacle be pushed gently 

 against the lower end of the swarm, you are 

 likely to secure not only the larger portion 

 of the bees, but the queen also ; and in this 

 event your swarming is practically done. 

 The other idea is this : After these wire- 

 cloth cages, such as the corn-popper and 

 Manum's arrangement, have been used a 

 few times for catching swarms, tbey will 

 acquire the scent of the laying queen, and 

 of former swarms. The catcher will, in 

 consequence, be more readily accepted for 

 clustering by succeeding swarms. In time 

 these cages will have little bits of wax ad- 

 hering to them, and these, also, form no 

 small part of the attraction. 



Uangferoiisly Stnng l>y Bees.— 



The following item from the New York 

 Weekly Post, has been passing the rounds 

 of the press for the past two or three weeks: 



Xenia, O., May 23.— George Hamill, a 

 young farmer residing two miles north of 

 this city, was attempting to hive a swarm of 

 bees yesterday, when they settled on his 

 head, face and neck. He began to fight 

 them, and they began to sting. In a short 

 time lie was on the ground writhinj; in ter- 

 rible agony ; and when his wife and mother 

 came to his aid with brooms, he was nearly 

 dead. He became unconscious, and re- 

 mained so for some time, his head and 

 hands swelling up so as to make him un- 

 recognizable. He is in a serious condition. 



We do not know how much the above re- 

 port has been exaggerated. In any case, it 

 was very nuwise in the young farmer to 

 strike at and fight the bees, as he is reported 

 to have done. If they started to cluster on 

 his person, he should first attempt to [jar 

 them off gently, and then walk quietly away 

 for the time being, until they found some 

 other object on which to cluster. A few 

 puffs from a bee-smoker would also have 

 removed them. We thought best to insert 

 the item, to warn our friends against strik- 

 ing bees, or fighting them when there are 

 so many in the air that they can do a great 

 deal of mischief. We presume the young 

 farmer recovered, as we have seen nothing 

 ing in print to the effect that he he did 

 not.— Gleonings. 



Xhe Supreme Coiirt of the United 

 States is a tribunal that exercises an im- 

 mense influence, but is little known to the 

 people. Ausburn Towner, in Prank Les- 

 lie's Popular Monthly for July, gives a 

 very interesting account of the Justices, 

 the room where they sit in judgment, their 

 residences, as well as portraits, views, etc., 

 that will open up the judiciary to all. In 

 " The Rides of the World," Noel Ruthven 

 takes up an attractive subject, and treats it 

 in a most fascinating manner. The famous 

 rides : 'Bois de Boulogne, at Paris, Rotten 

 Row, London, Central Park, New York, the 

 Vienna Prater, and Berlin's renowned 

 "Unter den Linden," day by day see the 

 wealthy and fashionable dashing by in 

 elegant turnouts drawn by splendid speci- 

 mens of horseflesh. 



