2i8 BEE MANIPULATION. [Ch. v. 



second time, instead of making use of the storerooms 

 thus provided. In such a case the clever apiarian, having 

 spread the swarm on the ground, will select the queen, 

 and cause the bees to go back to the hive from whence 

 they came. But this operation requires an amount of 

 apiarian skill which, though it may easily be attained, is 

 greater than is usually possessed. 



For a description of the theory and phenomena of 

 swarming, with the signs by which its imminence may 

 be gathered, and a variety of information referring chiefly 

 to the habits and life of the insect, the reader is referred 

 to an earlier article in this work (Chap. I. § xi.). 



§ II. TRANSFERRING SWARMS. 

 Where the permanent hive is of the skep description 

 the swarm may of course be hived into it at once. But 

 mth many of the hives now in approved use a process of 

 transference will be necessary. To effect this, place the 

 straw hive, into which we will suppose the bees have 

 been shaken, on the ground, propped up on one side 

 mth a brick or a flower-pot, or anything of the sort that 

 may be handy, in order that straggler bees may join the 

 swarm. The spot selected for this should be as shady a 

 one as can be found, near to the place where the swarm 

 settled ; or it may be shaded from the rays of the sun by 

 fixing matting on two poles, so as to prevent the heat 

 falling on the hive. Spread a sheet or cloth on the 

 ground where an even surface can be obtained ; stake 



