SPRING MANAGEMENT. 311 
(page 229), and we need add little here beyond the 
quotation from Dr. Dunbar which Mr. Taylor has 
placed ready to our hand. We should, however, 
premise that the doctor’s confidence as to the queen 
being one of the first of the ascending bees is not 
shared by all, and the directions usually given 
involve the tiresome searching among the driven 
cluster to make sure that the monarch is in the 
desired hive (if she cannot be found, both hives can 
be set upon stands till the bees’ behaviour shows 
which of them possesses her, and if this should 
be the old one, the process must be repeated). 
“We carried,” says Dr. Dunbar, ‘the full hive into 
a dark place, turned it up, fixed it in the frame of 
a chair from which the bottom had been removed, 
placed an empty hive over it, mouth to mouth, and 
partially drove it. As soon as we perceived that 
about half of the bees had ascended into the empty 
hive (knowing that in these cases the queen is 
generally amongst the foremost), we immediately 
replaced the old hive on its former station, and 
removed the new one, now containing the queen, to 
a little distance. As the former had plenty of eggs 
and brood, they were at no loss to procure another 
queen; whilst the other, having a queen, proceeded 
to work in all respects as a natural swarm.” We 
would merely vary these directions by advising that 
if the old hive is to be given the advantage of the 
old stand, it will be better to drum out three- 
quarters instead of a half of its population. To 
avoid annoyance, and loss of the foraging bees as 
they continue to return homewards during the 
