SWARMING.—Chapter XI. 
Such a division may be 
united with one having a 
queen, if this can be done 
before the bees go back to 
their respective old loca- 
tions. 
Whenever hiving bees 
that may be accompanied 
by a virgin queen, one of 
the frames in the new hive 
may well be replaced by a 
frame of comb containing 
young larvae. This pro- 
Queen and drone trap placed at the hive entrance. vides against failure of the 
virgin to mate. _ 
Smoking the Swarm. 
Common sense will dictate to the beginner that he handle swarming 
bees as gently as possible. They are usually gorged with honey when is- 
suing in a swarm from the hive, and ordinarily they may be handled with- 
out fear of stings. Yet they can and do occasionally sting when swarming. 
This is the reason for having a smoker on hand and using it, if necessary, 
when first closely approaching a swarm clustered on a bush or tree. Use 
the smoke, too, on the clustered swarm whenever they appear to show 
any signs of hostility. Swarms that have been clustered for a half day 
or more are sometimes inclined to be very cross and extra precaution 
should be taken in such eases. But under ordinary circumstances the 
smoker will be little needed in hiving a swarm. 
General Observations on Swarming. 
Let it be remembered that, excepting in parts of the South, the more 
swarming there is in an apiary the smaller will be the surplus-honey crop. 
Therefore, swarming is not desirable when the owner of bees is working. 
for a crop of honey. This fact leads the owners of many apiaries either 
to restrict swarming greatly or to try to prevent it altogether. (See pages 
73-76 and 84-88.) 
Swarm Prevention and Control. 
Swarm prevention is one of the greatest problems which the beekeeper 
has to solve. For the particular methods of prevention or control of 
swarming in extracted-honey production and in comb-honey production, 
see the discussion of this subject in Chapters XII and XIV. 
70 
