S-WAEMING. 197 



the bees to set upabuzzin^, and rust up the sides of the 

 hive, but a little smoke will drive them back ; get them 

 out of the way as much as possible, and look on the 

 edges of the combs for the queens' cells, where most 

 of them are. If the hive is fully supplied with honey, 

 they will be near the bottom, if not, farther up among 

 the combs ; in some hives they cannot be seen even 

 where they exist. Yet they may be found in four out 

 of five, by a thorough search. I have found nine with- 

 in two inches of the bottom, some on the extreme ends 

 of the comb. I would here give a caution about turn- 

 ing over hives with very new combs, before they are 

 attached to the sides of the hive, as they are apt to 

 bend over. ^ 



EMPTY HIVES TO BE READY. 



"We will now suppose that some of your stocks are 

 ready to cast their swarms : we will also presume that 

 your empty hives for the reception of swarms are ready 

 before this period ; to prepare a hive after the swarm 

 has issued is bad management ; negligence here argues 

 negligence elsewhere ; it is one of the premonitions of 

 "bad luck." 



BOTTOM-BOARDS FOK HIVING. 



You will want also a number of bottom-boards ex- 

 pressly for hiving; get a board a little larger than the 

 bottom of the hive, nail strips across the ends on the 

 under side, to prevent warping ; in the middle cut out 

 a space five or six inches square, and cover with wire 

 cloth. These are for your large swarms in very hot 

 weather, to be used for four or five days. They are 



