bee-kekper's manual. 303 



firmly, a hook and staple should be placed on each side, 

 and one at the top, perhaps ; and if the hive rest on 

 pins, a piece of sheet iron should be secured to the bot- 

 tom of one of the parts, on both sides where the union 

 takes place, and made to lap over a half an inch, so that 

 the bottom of the other half may catch and rest on them. 

 We will suppose, that we have a hive on this princi- 

 ple, full of bees, and we wish to make an artificial swarm. 

 We take another hive of the same kind, and divide it. 

 We then unhitch the full hive, and slowly, and carefully 

 remove one of its sides a few feet, and supply its place 

 with an empty one, corresponding in every particular. 

 We next unite the other empty half to the half of the 

 full one, that was removed, and await the result. The 

 queen will be in one half, but in which, must be proved 

 as follows : — take a rod and beat each hive smartly, 

 arousing the bees as much as possible ; and that part 

 which contains the queen will be quite tranquil after a 

 few minutes ; but a tremendous confusion will exist in 

 the other, and the bees will run around, under, and over 

 the hive in great consternation. The part where the 

 bees are quiet should be removed to a new place, and 

 the other should be placed in its position. In the fall, 

 two prime families will exist, perhaps, equally as good 

 as if no division had taken place, and no swarm had 

 been thrown off. 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMS MAY BE TRANSPOSED. 



Sometimes it- may happen, that one or two very large, 

 and also a few very small artificial swarms may exist 



