218 ADMINISTRATION OF FOOD TO THE BEES. 



credence upon his account of a regular pitched battle between 

 two swarms, the interest of which must have been intense 

 indeed, especially when the selected combatants were by 

 their skill and prowess deciding the fate of their respective 

 monarchies. 



We have previously alluded to the quantity of provisions 

 which the bees of a swarm bring with them from the parent 

 hive, and the probability that by the sudden intervention 

 of bad weather, their stock of food may be exhausted before 

 the bees are enabled to repair to the fields to replenish their 

 store. In this case, no time, should be lost in administering 

 to them some food, in which a small quantity of port wine, 

 or other stimulating liquid has been incorporated, which 

 may prevent them so falling off in strength, as not to be 

 able to take their flight into the fields. This food, however, 

 should always be given to them at night, in order that no 

 allurement may be held out during the day to the bees of 

 the stronger hives. In the lifting of the hive for the purpose 

 of depositing the food on the pedestal, great care should be 

 taken not to shake it, nor in any way to handle it roughly : 

 the combs a few days after the introduction of a swarm, are 

 in general very tender, and as the weather is usually hot, 

 great risk is run, owing to the weight of the bees pressing 

 upon them, that the combs will fall down, and thereby prove 

 the ruin of the hive. At all events, the hive should be lifted 

 perpendicularly, and not in a slanting direction, for if there 

 be any vacuum in the hive, great risk is run of the combs 

 snapping, and a great portion of the honey being lost. 



If a swarm settles on the ground, it is a certain proof of 

 the extreme fatigue of the queen, and an almost infallible 

 sign, that the swarm will not soon fly away again. In this 

 case, the hiving of it is a task of great facility, for it is only 

 required to place the hive over the bees, and they will in a 

 very short time ascend into it ; or it might be advisable to 

 gather about two or three hundred of the bees, and put 

 them into the hive, and then, on placing it over the 



