188 ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 



should be returned to the hive. One or two combs contain- 

 ing brood, eggs and stores, should be put into the new hive, 

 to give them greater encouragement to begin their labors and 

 to prevent the necessity of feeding them if the weather 

 should be unfavorable after hiving. In removing the frames 

 with the bees, I always look for the Queen, and if I see her, 

 as I generally do, I place the frame on which she is, in the 

 new hive, without shaking off the bees. If I do not see her 

 on the combs I seldom fail to notice her as she is shaken on 

 the sheet and crawls towards the hive. In dislodging the bees 

 upon the sheet, I do not shake them all off from the frames ; 

 but leave about one quarter of them on, and return them with 

 the combs to the old hive. The queen is seldom left on 

 the frame after it has been shaken so that the larger portion 

 of the bees fall off. As soon as the operation is completed, 

 and the necessary number of bees have been transferred to 

 the new hive, the parent stock should be put upon the old 

 stand to catch up the returning bees, and then set in a new 

 place. The new hive containing the artificial swarm should 

 be returned to the old stand. If the swirm is made when 

 but few bees are abroad, the same precautions must be used 

 that have already been described, to secure a proper allowance 

 of bees which will adhere to the parent stock when it is re- 

 moved to a new location. Or, either the old or new stock 

 may be removed to the distance of a mile, and the other put 

 in the old place. If the Apiarian is so situated that he can 

 cheaply and conveniently carry off one of the colonies, he 

 will find this to be altogether the easiest mode of manage- 

 ment. I have found that when forage is abundant near the 

 Apiary, it will answer all practical purposes to remove the 

 bees about half a mile from their former home. 



If the Queen is not seen in the process of forming a new 

 colony, it may be certainly ascertained, in from five to fif- 



