96 



Texas Department of Agriculture. 



necessitating climbing after them. If clustered on a small limb 

 this may be sawed off and lowered to the ground by means of a long 

 rope. Valuable trees need not be injured in this way, however, be- 

 cause the swarm may be shaken or brushed into a light basket or 

 box, quickly covered over with a large cloth and brought down and 

 hived. A convenient contrivance for this purpose is the swarm 

 catcher, with a long pole, which enables the apiarist to get down 

 swarms from high places. It is only necessary to get the biggest part 



of the swarm of bees into the 

 basket, when it is lowered 

 over a limb in such a way 

 that the lid will be thrown 

 over the top of the wire bas- 

 ket and confine the bees. It 

 is then by means of the tri- 

 pod legs, suspended in the air 

 near the flying bees, and 

 these will cluster to the out- 

 side of the basket. 



In the mean time a hive for 

 them is prepared on the stand 

 from which the swarm issued, 

 after removing the old hive 

 to a new stand. The swarm 

 catcher, with the bees, is 

 carried to this and "dump- 

 ed" in front of the hive en- 

 trance through which they 

 will enter the hive imme- 

 diately. 



As swarming bees are always well filled with honey, to last them 

 on their journey, they are not inclined to sting when hived, unless 

 roughly handled, and need not be especially feared. This makes it 

 possible for the larger children, or the "women folks" to hive the 

 swarms, in the absence of the beekeeper. 



Manum swarm catcher. 



SCOUTS BEFORE SWARMING. 



A first, or prime, swarm very rarely fails to alight before going to 

 the place where its future home is to be. Whether this clustering is 

 done to perfect better organization of the forces that make up the em- 

 igrating swarm, or whether it is for the purpose of sending out 

 "scouts" to look for a suitable place to which the journey may be 

 made, is merely guessed at by man. Apparently there are many 

 evidences that a colony of bees, preparing to swarm, will previously 

 select a location for a new home by sending out "scouts," or a num- 

 ber of bees to go out and find a suitable place, to which the swarm 

 proceeds later. It often occurs that quite a number of bees will be 

 discovered searching about a pile of empty hives or supers, only to 

 suddenly disappear and to be followed by a swarm of bees a week or 

 so later to make their abode in the selected place. The same has been 



