SPRING MANAGEMENT. 309 
the hive set down upon it over the stand, and a full 
half of the board projecting over the front edge; 
then, with his own hive, the front block beneath the 
floor-board can be removed, and the board will at 
once let down so as to form the inclined plane 
required (of course if the hive is combined with the 
stand the swarming-board will have to be supported 
upon another stand in front). Small blocks about 
an inch and a quarter in thickness (thicker if the 
floor-board is used), and placed one at each front 
corner of the hive, will give the desired admittance 
to the bees. Then, when all is ready—between 
sunset and dusk is recommended by Mr. Neighbour 
—the skep is raised and the swarm smartly ejected 
in the immediate front of the permanent hive, and 
when all the insects are driven out, the former 
should at once be taken out of their way to avoid 
the chance of its diverting their thoughts from their 
proper home. If there is any hesitation on their 
part towards making their way into the latter, they 
may be gently swept or scooped up to its mouth, or 
else sprinkled, smoked, or driven with a feather dipped 
in diluted carbolic acid. 
A method adopted by Mr. Woodbury appears much 
simpler than the above, but is only to be commended 
to experienced manipulators. He would merely remove 
the crown-board and eject the bees from the skep imme- 
diately on to the tops of the frames, through which 
they would, after more or less awkwardness, disappear, 
and the board could be then replaced. But, as Mr. 
Cheshire said to us in noticing this plan, ‘“‘the bees 
boil over in a manner to utterly nonplus beginners.” 
