222 KAtOftAI, SWAEMtNO. 



is shaken on a cloth just between the three. If most of the bees 

 seem to go into the same hive, this should be removed a little 

 farther. Great care should be exercised to find the queens, and 

 to direct one towards each hive. But if only one queen is seen, 

 it is better to cage (ftStt) her till the greater part of the bees 

 have entered. Then, as soon as the bees of one of the hives 

 show signs of uneasiness, and seem ready to join the bees in the 

 others, release the queen, and direct her towards this queenless 

 hive and all will be well." — (Hamet, " Cours d' Apiculture," 

 Paris, 1866.) 



436. If two queens have entered the same hive, they 

 can often be found on its bottom-board, each in a ball 

 (538) of angry bees, strangers to them. Open the ball, 

 and give one of the queens to the queenless hive, if the bees 

 have not already deserted it. When queens have been 

 " balled" by mixed swarms, it is well to keep them caged, 

 in the hive, for a few hours, or till the bees have quieted. 

 The quantity of bees in each hive can be equalized, by 

 shaking a few from the strongest in front of the weakest 

 (72). 



437. Dr. Scudamore, an English physician, who has 

 written a tract on the Formation of Artificial Swarms, 

 says that he once knew as "many as ten swarms go forth at 

 once, and settle and mingle together, forming, literally, a 

 monster meeting." There are instances recorded of a still 

 larger number having clustered together. A venerable 

 clergyman in Western Massachusetts, told us that in the 

 Apiary of one of his parishioners, five swarms once clus- 

 tered together. As he had no hive which would hold them, 

 they were put into a large box, roughly nailed together. 

 When taken up in the Fall, it was evident that the five 

 swarms had lived together as independent colonies. Four 

 had begun their work, each near a corner of the box, and 

 the fifth in the middle ; and there was a distinct interval 

 separating the works of the different colonies. In Cot- 

 ton's " My Bee Book," is a cut illustrating a similar sepa- 



