FOUNDATION OF A BEE COLONY 29 



chanced to rain heavily some time after they had 

 settled, and therefore they dared not make a long 

 journey. 



Sooner or later, however, the swarm will move 

 off to its permanent location. Some writers say 

 that it is not till the swarm has settled for this first 

 time that the scouts go out to find a new home. 

 I do not think this is the case. The risks of 

 remaining in the open until such time as a 

 suitable location is found seem to me too great, 

 and one instance I will mention which came under 

 my own observation will, I think, confirm my 

 belief that the home is found before the swarm 

 leaves the old one. 



One day in early June a stranger called upon me 

 to ask if I would hive a swarm for him, having 

 heard I was an enthusiastic bee-keeper. 



I happened to be extremely busy, but, not 

 being willing to appear disobliging, I went with 

 him a distance of about half a mile. I found the 

 swarm clustered round a pear-tree in a situation 

 where it was impossible to shake them off. 

 I therefore suggested supporting the skep on two 

 poles over the cluster and driving them up with 

 smoke. Some time elapsed before we found 

 suitable poles, and by the time I had them erected 

 I was obliged to leave, so I showed the owner how 

 to smoke the bees so as to get them in, and told 

 him I would return in about half an hour, hoping 

 by that time to find he had secured them. When 



