and Us Economic Management. 31 



come out, including those but just emerged froin the cell. If 

 the weather is warm, even these soon gain sufficient strength to 

 fly and settle with the swarm; otherwise, if they cannot crawl 

 back to the hive, many will perish ; thus showing the necessity of 

 a wide board reaching from the ground to the entrance, not only 

 in this instance, but at all times, as many adult bees are lost in 

 failing to reach the entrance during chilly weather. The workers 

 out in the fields at the time of swarming and the large number of 

 young hatching soon make up the strength of the hive and 

 prevent the remaining brood getting chilled. 



Securing the Swarm. 



If the apiary be located near high trees the swarms (if 

 permitted to issue) will often give trouble by clustering in them ; 

 though they may as often settle upon any low shrub, or even a 

 post or wall. In the former case a straw skep must be carried up 

 and the bees shaken into it when inverted under the clustering 

 mass ; descend the ladder as rapidly as possible, keeping the skep 

 the same way, and then turn it the right way up on to a sheet 

 previously spread upon the ground, with a brick or piece of wood 

 ' under it, so that one edge of the hive may be raised to enable the 

 flying bees to draw in. Where the cluster is formed on a wall or 

 any other like place, brush the bees off into the skep with a wing; 

 but if among branches of wall trees, little can be done in that 

 way, and they must be driven up into the skep as it is fastened 

 above them, by the use of smoke ; or, better still, make everything 

 more certain by first capturing the queen and secure her in 

 a cage fastened under the edge of the skep when placed on the 

 ground : in this case if only a handful of bees can first be brushed 

 into the skep, all the rest will follow. On no account, in any 

 instance, expect the bees will go up of their own accord into 

 a hive placed above the cluster ; it will only cause waste of time 

 and disappointment ; it has to be done, therefore carry the thing 

 through at once. 



