162 SWARMING AND HIVING. 



where their new hive is to stand ; when this -is ready, they 

 may, by a quick jerking motion, be easily shaken out on a 

 sheet, and hived in it, just as though they were shaken from 

 the hiving basket. 



Before leaving this subject, I will add to the directions for 

 hiving already given, a method which I have practiced with 

 good success. 



When the situation of the bees does not admit of the bas- 

 ket being easily elevated to them, the bee-keeper may carry/ 

 it with him to the cluster, and then after shaking the bee* 

 >into it, may lower it down by a string, to an assistant stanjil-/ 

 \ ing below. 



I have endeavored, even at the risk of being tedious, to 

 give such specific directions as will qualify the novice to 

 hive a swarm of bees, under almost any circumstances ; for 

 I know the necessity of such directions and how seldom 

 they are to be met with, even in large treatises on Bee-Keep- 

 ing. Vague or imperfect directions always fail, just at the 

 moment that the inexperienced attempt to put them into 

 practice. 



That Natural Swarming may, with suitable hives, be 

 made highly profitable, I cannot for a moment question. 

 As it is the most simple and obvious way of multiplying 

 colonies, and the one which requires the least knowledge or 

 skill, it will undoubtedly, for many years at least, be the fa- 

 vorite method with a large number of bee-keepers. I have 

 therefore, been careful to furnish suitable directions for its 

 successful practice ; and before I discuss the question of Ar- 

 tificial Increase, I shall show how it may be more profitably 

 conducted than ever before; many of the most embarrassing 

 difficulties in the way of its successful management being 

 readily obviated by the use of my hives. 



1. The common hives fail to furnish adequate protectioa 



