290 THE BEE-KEEPER’S MANUAL. 
and with a wine-glass she may be easily captured. 
Upon this the bees will return to their parent hive. 
The queen may also very easily be taken during the 
departure of a swarm; for she appears to leave the 
hive reluctantly, and may be seen running back- 
wards and forwards upon the alighting-board before 
she takes wing.” I have sometimes found it 
advantageous, instead of a cloth, to place on the 
eround four or five large sheets of paper. On these 
the bees have been spread, and the sheets carried 
in opposite directions, thus enabling a better search 
to be made for the queen; and especially is this 
the case with a second swarm, for then there are 
frequently three or four. Where there is no queen, 
the bees will soon be in confusion and fly to their 
original home; but in the reverse case she may be 
discovered by their congregating in one particular 
part. Nor is there any danger in this proceeding; 
for the bees, beng gorged with honey, are not often 
disposed to attack, provided the precaution of not 
breathing upon them is observed. Moreover, any 
such operation is best carried on in the shade, as a 
hot sun makes the bees less tractable at all times. 
Occasionally it might happen that, on the issuing of 
a swarm, the queen, from inability to fly, falls to the 
ground, when the bees will return to the hive, and 
such return is often attended with advantage. 
In judging of the desirableness of compelling the 
return of a first swarm, we must be guided by 
circumstances. Should it be a large issue, ex- 
pediency would dictate the hiving it at once as a 
new colony; for the queen may reasonably be 
