SWARMING AND HIVING. 161 



fot the Season, it should be removed to its permanent stand 

 as soon as the bees have entered ; for if allowed to remain 

 to be removed in the evening, or early next morning, the 

 scouts which have left the cluster, in search of a hollow 

 tree, will find the bees when they return, and will often en- 

 tice them from the hive. There is the greater danger of 

 this, if the bees remain on the tree, a considerable time be- 

 fore they are hived. I have invariably found that swarms 

 which abandon a suitable liive for the woods, have been 

 hived near the spot where they clustered, and allowed to re- 

 main to be moved in the evening. If the bees swarm early 

 in the day, they will generally begin to work in a few hours 

 (or in less time, if they have empty comb,) and many more 

 may be lost by returning next day to the place where they 

 were hived, than would be lost, by removing them as soon 

 as they have entered ; in this latter case, the few that are on 

 the wing, will generally be able to find the hive if it is 

 slowly moved to its permanent stand. 



If the Apiarian wishes to secure the Queen, the bees 

 should be shaken from the hiving basket, about a foot from 

 the entrance to the hive, and if a careful look-out is kept, she 

 will generally be seen as she passes over the sheet, to the 

 entrance. Care must be taken to brush ihe bees back fronj] 

 the entrance when they press forward in such dense masses 

 that the Queen is likely to enter unobserved. An experi- 

 enced eye readily notices her peculiar form and color. She 

 may be taken up w^ithout danger, as she never stings, unless- 

 engaged in combat with another Queen. As it will some- 

 times happen, even to careful bee-keepers, that swarms 

 come off when no suitable hives are in readiness to receive 

 them, I shall show what may be done in such an emergency. 

 Take any old hive, box, cask, or measure, and hive the bees 

 in it, placing thera with suitable protection agaiinst the sun,- 

 14* 



