BEE MANUAL. 201 



another hive ; it will not be so likely to leave when this is 

 done, and the bees are provided with the means of raising a 

 queen, should any accident in hiving them have deprived them 

 of their own. 



CLIPPING THE QUEEN'S WING. 



For the purpose of obviating some of the inconveniences 

 connected with natural swarming, many leading bee-keepers 

 have adopted the plan of clipping a wing of the queen after she 

 has been impregnated, to prevent her flying with the swarm. 

 Many reasons can be given in favour of this method, while 

 there is only one that I know of which some consider against 

 it. 



When a swarm issues, the clipped queen, although she cannot 

 fly, will make an attempt, and consequently fall to the ground 

 close to the hive. The bee-keeper, being at hand, must pick 

 her up and cage her. As soon as the bees are all out, remove 

 the hive to another stand some distance away, and place an 

 empty one, fitted with frames of comb or foundation, and a 

 frame of eggs and brood, in its stead. Open the entrance as 

 wide as possible, and lay the caged queen down close to it. In 

 the meantime the swarm may have settled ; but when the bees 

 discover that the queen is not with them they will not be long 

 before they return and naturally enter the new hive. While 

 they are going in, release the queen, and see that she goes in 

 with them. When two or more swarms issue at the same time 

 and form one cluster, they will separate in a short time, and 

 return to their several stands ; so that if the bee-keeper has 

 secured the queens and changed the hives before their return, 

 he will have done his hiving with little trouble. Care must 

 be taken to clip a wing of every queen ; for if there should 

 happen to be one queen in the cluster, the bees will not 

 return. 



The objection to this method sometimes put forward is the 

 necessity of having some one constantly on the alert to secure 

 the queen and change the hires. In a large apiary it would 

 be necessary to see the swarm coming out of the hive, or else 

 it would be difficult to find the queen. It is quite certain that 

 if the bees return with or without their queen, they will make 

 another attempt next day, and if they have to return to the 

 old hive again, the probability is that if they find her they will 



