OR, MANUAI, OF THB APIARY. 305 



only objection that can be urged against them — and even this 

 does not apply to the last — is that we must seek out the queen 

 in each hive, or at least be sure that we do not remove her, 

 though this is by no means so tedious if we have Italians or 

 other races of yellow bees, as, of course, we all will. I might 

 give other methods which would render unnecessary this cau- 

 tion, but, to my mind, they are inferior, and not to be recom- 

 mended. If we proceed as above described, the bees will sel- 

 dom prepare to swarm at all, and, if they do, they will be dis- 

 covered in the act, by such frequent examinations, and the 

 work may be cut short by at once dividing such colonies, as 

 first explained, and destroying their queen-cells, or, if desired, 

 using them for forming new nuclei. 



CAPTURING ABSCONDING SWARMS. 



Sometimes swarms break cluster and take wing for their 

 prospective home before the bee-keeper has hived them. 

 Throwing dirt among them will sometimes cause them to 

 alight again. Throwing water among them in the form of a 

 fine spray (Fig. 140) will almost always do this. For such pur- 

 pose some hand pump is very desirable. Whitman's fountain 

 pump is one of the most convenient. It costs about $7.00. 

 Another important use for such a pump in the apiary is this : 

 If a swarm, when clustered, is sprinkled occasionally, it will 

 remain clustered indefinitely. This permits us to retain a 

 swarm in case it is more convenient to hive it later. While 

 most customs have a reasonable basis, the common one of 

 horns and bells and beating of pans to stop a swarm is a nota- 

 ble exception. It does not do the least good. 



