§!.] HIVING SWARMS. 315 



position cool and comfortable. For the same reason the 

 hive used to take them in should not have been standing 

 in the sun. 



Two swarms sometimes depart at the same time, and 

 join together ; in such a case we recommend that they 

 be treated as one, by putting them into a hive as before 

 described, taking care to give abundant room and not 

 to delay affording access to the super hive or glasses. 

 They will settle their own notions of sovereignty by one 

 queen being destroyed. There are means of separating 

 two swarms, but the operation is a formidable one, and 

 does not always repay even those most accustomed to 

 such manipulation. If after one swarm has started 

 there are signs of another setting out which might mix 

 with it, means may be taken for securing the queen of 

 the second, or sheets may be thrown over the hive. 



With regard to preparations for taking a swarm, our 

 advice to the bee-keeper must be the reverse of Mrs. 

 Glass's notable injunction as to the cooking of a hare. 

 Some time before you expect to take a swarm, be sure 

 to have a suitable hive in which to take it, and also every 

 other requisite properly ready. A bee veil or dress will 

 preserve the most sensitive from the possibility of being 

 stung. This article is fully described on page 209. But 

 bees when swarming are in an eminently peaceful frame 

 of mind ; having dined sumptuously, they require to be 

 strongly provoked before they will sting. Yet there may 

 be one or two foolish bees who, having neglected to fill 



