50 THE COTTAGE AND FARM BEE KEEPER. 



of scarcity, so that in the all-absorbing search for, and storing of, honey, 

 the breeding space of the hive becomes rapidly contracted.* It is ev- 

 ident, therefore, that now, on the eve of honey-gathering, is the most 

 suitable moment for the forcing of artificial swarms. Every comb is 

 at this time full of brood, which will enswre the after prosperity of the 

 Mve, while such an abounding population has been hatched already, 

 as to hold out the prospect of a rich autumn spoliation of the early 

 one. 



The criterion of preparedness for experiment on the part of a stock 

 is various. First, there must be an abounding and vigorously- working 

 population, thronging the entrance in warm weather — sometimes it 

 may be hanging in clusters from the alighting board ;+ and secondly, 



* See Appendix, Note E. 



t The clustering of bees outside the hive — though it may sometimes occur immediately 

 on a change of weather, as from cold to heait — usually takes place gradually, and some days 

 after the occurrence of the change. It is a sign in general that swarming, whether artifi- 

 cial or natural, has been retarded too long, or, at least, that the former should be had re- 

 course to immediately. If the plan of forcing them be adopted, as recommended above, 

 great care must be taken in manipulating the parent hive, for the temperature of the stock, 

 under such circumstances — it being densely filled with a teeming population — is usually 

 very high, on which account there exists much danger of the combs giving way. If, there- 

 fore, a hive has been suffered, from neglect or other unavoidable cause, to proceed to this con- 

 dition, and the bees hang out in great numbers, perhaps Dr. Bevan's plan maybe had recourse 

 to in preference to any other method. " Towards noon of a fine day, (says that celebrated 

 apiarian,) or almost at any time, let the stock hive be removed to a distance, and a spare hive 

 (such as a Golding's bar hive) be put in its place, to one bar of which (taken out of a 

 similar bar hive, if there are any such in the apiary — a fresh bar being given to the stock 

 from which it was taken) is attached a comb containing worker bees' eggs, or very young 

 larva of the same order, (but there should be eggs in every case, I think ;) the out-liers, or 

 the bees that are abroad, or both, as the case may be, will then enter the new habitation, 

 cluster round the brood, construct one or more royal cells to inclose one or more of the eggs 

 to raise a young sovereign. If the season be favorable, they will thus form a flourishing 

 stock, whilst the old removed family, with beneficially diminished numbers, will soon be 

 reconciled to their new situation, and attend to their usual avocations as if nothing had 

 happened." Or still better, perhaps, (because the removal of a whole comb from another 

 hive might check its tendency to swarm,) I advise the use of a bee-glass, four inches in di- 

 ameter, into which a piece of worker comb is introduced, set over the hole at the top of the 

 new hive. The process of rearing a queen artificially before the eyes of the bee master, 

 will form an interesting feature in the apiarian memoranda of the year. Dr. Bevan con- 

 tinues : " The brood comb, which should not be less than two or three inches in diameter, 

 may be supplied from any hive that can spare it ; but if not taken from a loose-barred 

 hive of suitable dimensions, it may be separated from its original attachments ;" that is, 

 cut out of any comb in any hive, and adjusted anyhow in the bee glass, or against the 

 side of the hive which the new swarm is intended to occupy. ■ The bees will soon glue it 



