214 KATURAL SWAEMING. 



ored black, can hardly be distinguished, at a distance, from 

 a clustering swarm. A black woolen stocldng or piece of 

 cloth, fastened to a shady limb, or to a pole, in plain sight 

 of the hives, and where the bees can be most conveniently 

 hived, would answer as good a purpose. Swarms are not 

 only attracted by the bee-like color of such objects, but are 

 more readily induced to alight upon them, if they furnish 

 something to which they can easily cling, the better to sup- 

 port their grape-like clusters. 



Still better than the above, a frame of dry comb, as dark 

 as possible, will often attract the bees and cause them to 

 cluster. None of these devices however are infallible ; hence 

 the advisability of locating an Apiary among low trees or 

 bushes, or in an orchard, if possible. 



When no trees or bushes are to be found, and no settling 

 place has been provided, they will settle wherever the queen 

 may happen to alight, on a grape-vine, on weeds, on the 

 ground, on the corner of a building, etc. 



418. It will inspire the inexperienced Apiarist with more 

 confidence, to remember that almost all the bees in a swarm, 

 are in a very peaceable mood, having filled themselves with 

 honey before leaving the parent-stock (380). Yet there 

 are, in nearly every swarm, a few bees that have either 

 joined from a neighboring hive, or have not filled their 

 honey-sack completely before leaving. These bees are liable 

 to get angry, when the swarm is harvested. So, if the Api- 

 arist is timid, or suffers severely from the sting of a bee, he 

 should, by all means, furnish himself with the protection of 

 a bee-dress (386). The use of a smoker (382), is also 

 advisable, both in preventing the bees from stinging, and in 

 helping to drive them into the hive ; but it must not be used 

 plentifully, as it might cause the bees to abscond, or to 

 return to the clustering spot. 



419. A new suxirm should he hived as soon as the bees have 

 quietly clustered around their queen; although there is no 



