JO THE BOOK OF THE HONEY BEE 



ligence is apparently instantaneously communicated to 

 the whole swarm, for almost at the same moment the 

 entire swarm, from being an apparently aimless crowd, 

 suddenly acquires direction, and is seen to head en masse 

 for the hive. 



Meanwhile the skep will be found still to contain a 

 " coating " of bees, and should be vigorously slapped 

 (mouth upwards) with the open hands and rapidly 

 swirled round, when the adhering bees will ignomini- 

 ously roll around in the bottom of the skep like so 

 many peas. A sudden jerky throw will restore all these 

 to their companions, when the skep should be taken 

 right away. 



In the upward movement to the hive, the bees move 

 more like a semi-plastic mass than individual units, and 

 frequently clusters form on the edges of the board. 

 These may be coaxed into the right way with the smoker, 

 or be lifted up with a spoon and placed on the board. 



After all the bees have entered the hive, which may 

 take from twenty minutes to an hour, or even longer 

 with a heavy swarm, remove the wedges, space the 

 frames to their normal distances, replace the outer cover, 

 fix the feeder, full of syrup, in position, and start gentle 

 feeding (say, two or three holes) ; lastly, of course, put 

 on the roof. The following morning will usually find 

 the bees flying, feeling apparently quite at home ; and if 

 in the course of a day or so they are observed carrying 

 in pollen, then all may be judged to be well and breeding 

 to have commenced. 



