bee-keeper's manual. 273 



just received the swarms, as much out of sight as pos- 

 sible, as it frequently happens, that a swarm will follow 

 another, after being hived, if a portion of the bees clus- 

 ter outside, where they may be seen. 



When several swarms do get together, making, as I 

 have known, a barrel full of bees ; and perhaps a dozen 

 different swarms, then the apiarian is in no very envia- 

 ble predicament. I heard of a gentleman whe had 200 

 hives or families, and when they came out and clustered 

 together in this way, he hived thehi in a barrel, and in 

 one season the barrel would be filled with combs, and 

 contain several hundred pounds of honey. 



TIME THAT SWARMS REMAIN CLUSTERED. 



The length of time that swarms will quietly remain 

 upon the bough where they cluster, if ,not hived, is a 

 matter of importance to every bee-keeper. There is not 

 that necessity for hurrying, as if one's life were at stake, 

 as some people imagine. If the weather be unusually 

 hot and sultry, and the swarm cluster where it is fully 

 exposed to the rays of the sun, and it be between the 

 hours of eleven and two, you cannot be too quick in se- 

 curing them ; but if they issue in the morning or in the 

 afternoon, when the air is cool, or if they are fully 

 shaded, let the time be when it may, you can hive them 

 at your leisure. I had two swarms issue, some few 

 years ago, when the weather was not oppressively hot, 

 under the following circumstances : — I had occasion to 

 be absent from home at a period when no one was on 

 my premises who could hive bees. One swarm came 

 12* 



