ADVANCED BEE CULTURE. 75 



of the trap is covered with perforated zinc, the perforations being- 

 of such a size that the workers can pass, but not the queen. When 

 a swarm issues, the queen attemps to follow, and, eventually, finds, 

 and passes through, a cone-shaped opening in the upper part of the 

 trap. Here she finds herself trapped in another apartment, as the 

 chance that she will find the narrow mouth of the cone, and return, 

 is as one in a thousand. The use of the trap saves clipping the 

 queen's wing, also the looking- for her when the swarm is out, to- 

 gether with the possibility of her being lost. The objections to the 

 trap are its cost, a slight hindrance to the bees passing out and in, 

 and its interference, somewhat, with the ventilation of the hive. A 

 trap placed over the entrance of a hive containing a newly hived 

 swarm will prevent loss if the swarm attempts to abscond. 



If only one swarm would issue at a time, there would be no diffi- 

 culty at all in managing swarms with clipped queens. When two or 

 more swarms come out at the same time, and no water is thrown be- 

 tween them, thej' are almost certain to unite. After circling about 

 for awhile, the bees return. If each bee would return to its old 

 location, all would be well; but when the bees of one swarm begin to 

 go back, a large share of the bees in the air follow them. A few 

 bees from each swarm, even if several swarms have united, will 

 return to their respective homes, but the majority will "follow my 

 leader." It is impossible to give any set rules to be followed in such 

 emergencies. If only two swarms have united, the bees may be 

 allowed to enter the new hive until it is estimated that one-half the 

 bees are in the hive, when it may be set out upon a new stand, and 

 given one of the queens, then another hive set upon the old stand and 

 the rest of the bees be allowed to enter. It should not be forgotten 

 that, as a rule, other things being equal, a bee is worth as much in 

 one hive as in another. Some bee-keepers, when several swarms 

 come to one place, take supers from other hives, where the bees are 

 working none the best, and place them upon the hive where the bees 

 are entering. As soon as the supers are full of bees they are 

 returned to the hives from whence they were taken. A colony made 

 unusually strong by uniting swarms, will store more honey, but will 

 be no stronger at the end of the season. 



Another plan of managing, where several swarms come out at the 

 same time, is not to allow the bees to return to their old locations, 

 but put the caged queens in baskets, each queen in a separate 

 basket, and hang the baskets on the branches of a tree where the 

 bees show a disposition to congregate. The bees soon find and 

 cluster about the queens in the baskets. As soon as a queen is 

 found with sufficient bees to form a good swarm, remove the basket 



