NATURAL SWAKMING. SI 



have jnst said that tie end of a tree bough is a convenient position from 

 whioh to hive s let us suppose that we have a swarm so situated, and that. 

 tile bough is not above our reach while standing on the ground. With one 

 hand we hold the skep (which should be clean within and clear of all beer 

 and sugar abominations) immediately benbath the swarm, whilst with the 

 other hand we grasp the boUgh as near aa possible to the bees without crush- 

 ing any, and with a short and quick down and upward movement we shake aa 

 many of the insects as possible into the skep. The novice would expect 

 every bee to fly ; some few hiindred will do so, and career around, but tha 

 great bulk, powerless in reciprocal embrace as they hold one on to another 

 for mutual support, fall in mass, and are directly under our control. The 

 floor board of the skep may have been placed immediately under the 

 position taken up by the swarm, and then the hive may be slowly turned 

 over upon it, having one of its edges well propped up by a stone ; or the 

 skep may be turned over upon the earth if it be smooth and free from 

 dust — in this case, also, taking care that there is abundant space for 

 ventilation. Mr. Pettigrew, we think, prefers to place the floorboard over 

 the skep while the latter is inverted, but let us caution the beginner 

 against hurry in this matter, or he may crush the queen as she runs 

 over the edge. Screen the skep from the sun ; use a leafy bough 

 for this purpose if nothing more convenient be at hand. If, after 

 the subsidence of the temporary commotion produced, you find that 

 the bees are beginning to draw near to the hive, even to enter it, 

 while the number left on the bough seem excited and bewildered, running 

 hurriedly about, and now and again taking a little turn on the wing, you 

 may conclude that you have secured the queen, and that before long all 

 will be comfortably clustering within the hive. But if, on the contrary^ 

 the bees within the skep are apparently disquieted and begin to leave it in 

 numbers, whilst the mass on the bough is comparatively tranquil and 

 evidently increasing in bulk, you may be pretty sure that the queen is not in 

 your party, and that the previously described operation will have to be re- 

 peated. In lifting the skep again use great gentleness, and almost all the 

 bees will be lifted with it, as they will be hanging from its i:oof . A little 

 practice will soon'enable the operator to determine whether the queen has- 

 been secured; for the initiated, the mere appearance of the remainder of the 

 cluster will at once be sufficient. If the bough is at a considerable height 

 from the ground, the better plan sometimes is to cut it off at sopie 

 distance above the cluster and bring it down to a convenient position 

 for shaking into the skep. Bees sometimes settle close to the main 

 stem of a tree where many branches are given off, and then the difficulty in 

 hiving is greatly increased. The skep may in some cases be stood over 

 them and they driven towards it by smoke ; or they may be brushed into it 

 by a goose or turkey feather while it is held beneath ; but for cases of 

 this kind no specific rules can be given ; much must rest with the ingenuity 



