240 BEE MANIPULATION. [Ch. v. 



ascent of the bees after the drumming, those in the 

 swarm must be turned and shaken over in the skep in 

 order to find her (they will not attempt to fly, but only 

 crawl). An inexperienced eye may still fail to detect her, 

 and in that case it will be best to set both hives upon 

 stands for a short time — the new one on the old stand 

 and the old on some other — when within half an hour the 

 one which is fairly quiet may be judged to be possessed 

 o the royal presence. Should this be the old hive it 

 must be again drummed, or the swarm may be returned 

 to it and the operation renewed on a following day. It 

 is, however, only with skep hives that any diiificulty of 

 this kind need be apprehended — there is always the power 

 of capturing and transferring the queen from movable 

 frames. When at last she is in the desired hive the 

 swarm is secured, and the after measures depend on the 

 number of bees that have accompanied her. If the ■ 

 stock retains one-half it may be moved to a new position 

 and the swarm take its place upon the old stand. Which- 

 ever occupies this latter post will detach largely from the 

 strength of the other, so that the reduction undergone 

 by the parent stock will not be more than it will probably 

 be able to sustain. 



As detailed in the above article on " Driving " (page 

 2 25), there is a third hive made use of in this case, 

 which has received the bees that returned home during 

 the operation, and these are now added to whichever hi\'e 

 may most require them. Should too many have gone 



