32 PKACTICAL BEE-KEEPING. 



-of the operator. Should the Bwarm be intended to stand near to the 

 position in which it was hired, it should be removed thither as soon as 

 all have quietly taken up their quarters, for, after swarming', bees carefully 

 mark their new location, and those taking a flight before the hive is placed 

 on its stand are in danger of being lost by returning to the wrong point. 

 If, however, the swarm ia to be taken any considerable distance it should 

 be left where hived until late in the evening, when a piece of coarse canvas 

 should be spread out smoothly upon the ground ; the hive, lifted very 

 slowly and cautioTisly, so as not to break the cluster of bees all hanging 

 from its roof — much in form like a swallows' nest under the house eaves — ^ie 

 placed upon the canvas, which is drawn up round its sides and tied with 

 string. The skep is now inverted, and may be carried with safety, to porter 

 and bees, to its destination, or conveyed by cart or rail, the essential point 

 being that the canvas is kept upwards. The uneasy hummers within get 

 "ius ample ventilation, and, being well provided with honey, can endure 

 incarceration for a day or two. Let those in charge understand that the 

 canvas must not be excluded from free contact of air. Some railway people 

 lately covered three Ligurian swarms of ours with tarpaulin " to keep 

 them quiet." The expedient succeeded — every bee reached its destination 

 dead. The skep containing the swarm should, upon its arrival, be placed 

 on its bottom board and stand, the string untied, and the canvas released 

 from the mouth, but not removed until the bees have had time to get 

 clear of it by clustering above. It is well to leave it not less than two 

 or three hours, when it may be slipped away as the hive is lifted. 



We have previously stated that if the natural swarm is intended to 

 tenant a frame hive it should still be first taken in a skep, so that it 

 remains for us to explain how to pass the bees from the former to the 

 latter. Spread out upon the ground, as near as may be convenient to the 

 final station, a table cloth or sheet, spreading it out as smoothly as possible, 

 and fixing down the corners by stones or wooden strips so that the wind may 

 not disturb it. Place upon this the wooden hive from which the bottom board 

 has been removed, so that its back edge comes to the edge of the cloth or 

 thereabouts, giving us a considerable unoccupied area upon which to throw 

 our swarm. Prop up the front of the hive with a stonfe or block at each 

 comer, leaving about an inch space in front for the bees to enter. 

 Cautiously raising the skep with the contained swarm, and standing 

 with the feet well asunder, while holding the skep firmly between the open 

 pahns, with a sharp, sudden, and decided jerk, shake out the bees upon the 

 sheet : dropping, as it were, and catching the skep between the hands, we 

 beat out of it the few dozen remaining bees. The fallen swarm, startled, 

 does not attempt to take wing, and for the first three or four seconds 

 merely spreads out upon the sheet, but the suitability of the hive is imme- 

 diately recognized by the party advancing into it, who at once start a 

 joyful note which calls the whole body towards the newly adopted home 



