HIVING: UNITING: AND TEANSFEUHING BEES. 133 



a chimney, or has clustered in a thick hedge, or in an old wall ; 

 get your skep over it, and drive the bees up with smoke, or 

 with the fumes of a cloth saturated with carbolic solution (127). 

 If you can so arrange that the smoke or the carbolic fumes 

 will not enter the skep, the bees will march up. If the swarm 

 clusters on a wall, or on the trunk of a tree, get the skep under, 

 and with a brush sweep the Ijees in. If they alight on the 

 ground, as they may possibly do when the queen's wings have 

 been clipped (212), place the skep beside them, and raised an 

 inch or two upon a couple of stones ; with a twig, or a feather, 

 or your hand move some of the bees to the entrance ; they will 

 loass in, and the remainder will ciuickly follow. 



236. Hiving from a Skep. — Having secured the swarm in 

 your skep, set the skep on a cloth or on the ground close to 

 the place where the swarm originally clustered, and raised 

 upon a couple of stones, to allow the outside bees to enter: 

 cover with a cloth, to shield from hot sunshine, until all the 

 bees have gone in : then carry it gently to the stand which 

 it is to occupy. In the afternoon, a couple of hours before 

 sunset, hive the swarm as directed (233). Or, if it be desirable 

 to adopt another and more rapid method, remove the sheet and 

 quilts from the hive which is to receive the swarm ; space out 

 the frames as widely as possible ; and arrange the hiving board 

 and white cloth as directed above (233). Take the skep; 

 invert it ; give it a good " bump " upon the ground to loosen 

 the foot hold of the bees ; and pour, or shake some of the swarm 

 on to the frames, and the remainder on to the hiving board. 

 Then spread the sheet, only, upon the frames ; put on a feeder 

 (119) with thin syrup (Recipe 321); and place the roof in 

 position. In the morning, close up the frames and dummy, 

 first removing any unnecessary frames, and any in which the 

 foundation may have broken down ; remove the wedges, and 

 lower the hive front to the floor board ; put on the covering 

 and the roof; and continue gentle feeding for about a week. 



237. Secure all the Cluster If, by any means, you have 



failed to secure the queen with the swarm, the bees will forsake 

 the hiving skep and will return to the original cluster if the 

 queen be still there, or to the hive from which they swarmed, in 

 the event of their being unable to find the queen. Therefore, 

 care should be taken to secure all the bees of the cluster, so 

 that the queen may not be lost. 



238. Sweetening the Hiving Skep. — The old-fashioned custom 

 of smearing the skep with treacle, butter, or beer, as an induce- 

 ment to the bees, is both useless and objectionable ; but, a little 

 piece of comb, with honey or brood, fastened by a skewer in 

 the top of the skep, serves as an attraction. 



