THE COTTAOE AND FARM BEE KEEPER. 21 



autumn, (which has survived the perils of the winter,) has the gratifi- 

 cation of beholding, after some patience, the issue of a fine swarm on 

 a sunny morning in May. No sooner is it settled, (which was none 

 the speedier for his " tauging,'' should he have resorted to that primi- 

 tive and enlightened practice,) than he proceeds, with his bee dress 

 on, to the bush or tree on which the bees have alighted, whence he 

 sweeps them, with a goose wing, or with his gloved hand, into a honey- 

 smeared hive of the larger kind, (as recommended in the last chapter,) 

 whose weight ought previously to have been carefully ascertained. 



Now if this swarm issued early, say on or before the 25th of May, 

 it were best to return it at once to the parent hive, after destroying its 

 queen, unless indeed it be ascertained of a certainty that her age does 

 not exceed two full years; though even here I should feel disposed 

 to get rid of her to make way for a young queen, as there is no doubt 

 whatever that the queen bee is in her prime for breeding the second 

 year of her existence, after which her vigor sensibly declines. While, 

 therefore, she may readily be suffered without hazard to live over a. 

 third spring, it is, I think, far more profitable to keep up a succession 

 of royalty in its prime only, by getting rid of the old queen every year. 

 It may seem a difficult operation to catch and destroy a queen, where- 

 as, in truth, all that is required is a cool and fearless temper, (which a 

 bee dress ought to give,) a good pair of eyes, and a quick but steady 

 hand. The delay in swarming will notbe great nor injurious, while the 

 greatest possible advantage will accrue from this treatment, not only 

 in securing the inestimable advantage of a young queen, who will be 

 in her prime the following spring, but also in the increased population 

 that will be added to the swarm on its second issue. I lay great stress 

 upon this advantage, as it is a main feature of my system that the 

 prime swarm should be, if possible, twice as large as such swarms 

 usually are. The process of catching the old queen, and returning the 

 swarm, is extremely simple and interesting. It is as follows: — First, 

 the new swarm having been temporarily hived in the ordinary way, is 

 quietly placed on a stool or table as near as possible to the place where 

 it alighted, taking care to shade it effectually from the sun, after which 

 the bee master hastens to the old hive, and blocks up the entrance hole 

 by means of a piece of list wound round the hive, (tied in a bow,) so that 

 not a bee may pass in nor out. A little space should be left, perhaps, 



