bee-keeper's manual. 297 



on its sides before it be removed, you should not fail to 

 do so, at the same time, having the empty hive in the 

 full one's place to receive them. By such means, a 

 nucleus is at once formed around the brood-comb. If 

 there be no clustering outside, you should manage in 

 some way, to get about a quart of bees to enter the 

 empty hive at once, as your success depends upon it. 

 If no other way offer, you must turn the full hive bot- 

 tom upwards, and set the empty one over it, and with 

 a rod strike the lower hive for a few minutes, when a 

 portion of its inmates will have entered the empty one, 

 and clustered on the comb above. The two following 

 days will add large numbers to the artificial swarm, be- 

 sides all the bees that are out in the fields when the 

 operation is performed. If the full hive be removed 

 without leaving bees enough behind to form a nucleus 

 around the brood-comb, the bees returning from the fields 

 finding an empty hive, will run around in distraction, 

 and perhaps depart entirely ; but if they see a cluster 

 already in the hive, however small it may be, they will 

 join it ; and after the first six hours, they will go to work 

 and rear a new queen, and in the fall there will be no 

 difference between this swarm and one that has issued 

 in the natural way. Artificial swarms must be large, 

 or there is a liability of their not rearing a queen, for 

 the want of sufficient animal heat within the hive to de- 

 velop her ; and also on account of the delay attending 

 their own natural increase, from having to wait two 

 weeks, at least, before a queen will be ready to com- 

 mence laying. 



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