BEE-FARMER'S CALENDAR. 199 



pied, hiving swarms, attending to recent swarms in new 

 hives, and in using the honey-extractor. 



It has become the fasliion in recent years, both in this 

 country and America, to produce artificial swarms. It 

 is generally advised to business-men, who are away from 

 home all day, therefore are unable to look after natural 

 swarming. It may answer and prove successful in some 

 instances, but we confess it has not done so in our apiary. 

 We prefer natural swarming, both for pleasure and profit. 

 Many readers will no doubt consult our pages for several 

 things with which we do not agree; for them we give the 

 best description we have seen of artificial swarming, by 

 Mr. Payne. " The present is a good time for obtaining 

 artificial swarms, and where any form of the bar-hives 

 is used the process is simple, and may be thus effected. 

 From ten to twelve o'clock on a bright morning remove 

 the boards from the top of the parent hive (first puffing a 

 little smoke underneath to make them peaceable), select a 

 bar the comb in which contains both eggs and brood, and 

 if a royal cell all the better, but this is not important ; place 

 the bar with comb in some convenient place, so that it is 

 neither bruised nor separated from the bar ; then turn up 

 the parent hive, after having fastened down the top, and 

 place the hive intended for the new swarm upon it, 

 observing that the junction is perfect ; then by a con- 

 tinuous gentle tapping upon the parent hive for a few 

 minutes a portion of the bees will have ascended into the 

 hive. Remove the parent hive 60 or 100 yards, placing 

 it upon a fresh floor-board, and place the new hive exactly 

 in the place of the old one, and upon the same floor-board; 

 and as quickly as possible introduce the bar of comb, filled 

 with eggs and brood, into its centre ; replace the top, and 

 endeavour to have the exterior of the hive as little altered 

 in appearance as possible ; it will then be found that the 

 few bees driven into the new hive with the number returning 



