BEE- CULTURE. 



1075 



Fro. 1450. — Box for Bee-hunting. 



foratee'in zinc, placed over the 



entrance of the hives, the slots 



being 5-32 of an inch in width, 



which will permit the entrance 



of the worker-bees' but exclude 



the drones. Another method 



of preventing swarming is by 



means of the honey extractor. 



If the honey is taken away 



from the bees and more room 



given them before they begin 



to feel cramped for it, they will 



seldom get the swarming fe^ 



ver. 



June is the main swarmingctime of bees in the United States ; 



yet in favorable weather they swarm occasionally as early as the 



middle of May, while, again, it may not commence until July. The 



earlier the swarming takes place, however, the better. It is better 



to swarm bees artificially, and not to wait for natural swarming. 



In the artificial swarming of bees, 

 the movable frame hives enable 

 artificial swarming to take the place 

 of natural swarming; and while 

 under the old system the bee-master 

 had to await the convenience and 

 caprice of the bees, and at the same 

 time to Watch the hives incessantly, 

 under the new system he can con- 

 sult his own convenience, divide 

 overpopulated colonies, and avoid 

 Fig. 1451.— How lo Insert a Queen Cell. \ oss Q f Swarms , 



But as natural swarming will constantly occur, notwithstanding 

 the sharpest precautions, and however carefully the apiary be man- 

 aged, and as bee-keepers are often unable to give attention to them 

 before they swarm, it is important to understand the indications of 

 swarming and the modes of hiving swarms. Bees are not apt to 

 swarm before the hive is strong in numbers, nor until the young 

 bees are hatching and the drones flying, nor while the weather is 

 unpleasant. The first warm, clear day is generally improved, when 

 the mass of workers, after hastily filling their sacs with provisions 

 for their journey, rush pell-mell from the hive, accompanied by the 

 queen. Hives should be kept in readiness for their reception when 

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