28 AN EASY METHOD 



more than merely to disengage them from tha limb or place 

 where they are collected ; nor should they fall any great dis- 

 tance, because their sacs are full when they swarm, which 

 renders them both clumsy and harmless, and harsh treatment 

 makes them irritable and unmanageable. 



When bees go from the old stock direct to the woods, 

 without alighting, it is when they lie out of the hive before 

 swarming. It is believed that they, being clustered in a 

 body on the outside of the hive, assume the organization of 

 a regular swarm, and their embassy is sent forth to search 

 out a new residence before the swarm leaves the old stock : 

 these cases are very rare. This difficulty is obviated in the 

 Chamber Hive. Instead of lying out before swarming, in 

 idleness, as in the old box, they go up into the drawers, and 

 are there constantly employed in depositing the fruits of 

 their labors, and are less liable to organize in a body before 

 swarming. It is indeed true, that bees have been known to 

 leave and go directly to the woods, when they did not lie out 

 before swarming. But, in all such cases with which I am 

 conversant, an attempt at swarming had been made previ- 

 ously, and the bees had returned to the old stock. The best 

 and most sure method known to stop fugitive swarms, is to 

 Confine a large silk handkerchief to the end of a long fish- 

 pole, like military colors, and wave it among the front part 

 of the swarm when on the wing. 



Bees become associated with the human family, and will 

 not often flee to the woods, unless they are neglected by 

 their owner, or driven away by bad management. One of 

 the principal causes of fugitive swarms is, want of vital air 

 in the hive. The heat of the sun exhausts the air in the 

 hive of its vitality in a few minutes, in a very hot day, and 

 the bees are compelled to leave it. In 1838, many swarms 

 were known to leave green trees, where they were not well 



