custom comes down to us from great antiquity. It is said that Bacchus 
and his followers were shouting and making music in the forest one 
day when the bees, attracted by the noise, gathered in a mass or 
swarm to Hsten, were seized by Bacchus, and placed in a hollow 
tree, to punish them for their insolence. Ever since then bees have 
lived a communal life, and ever since then they have been fascinated 
by clashing sounds. Another reason for noise at the time of swarm- 
ing was an ancient law made in the time of Alfred the Great. This 
law required that bells should be rung and gongs beaten to apprise 
the neighbors of the swarm, to call the men from the fields and to 
establish its ownership. This last item was most important for every 
farm and cottage had bees of its own. In those days sugar was not 
known and honey was the common sweet in use. A very common 
drink made in those days was mead made from fermented honey. 
The present day theory of making a noise at this time, is to upset 
and disorganize the bees so that they cannot follow their leaders. 
These leaders or scouts as they are called search for and find a new 
home before the swarm leaves the hive. A week or so before a swarm 
is cast, bee scouts may be seen investigating a disused hive, a hollow 
tree, or the eaves of a house. So careful and painstaking are these 
bees that they visit and re-visit the chosen place. Should you be so 
unfortunate as to fail to hive the swarm, the mass or cluster of bees 
\\-ill rise in the air and fly in a bee Hne to their new home. 
If you are an ambitious bee-keeper, one way to increase your 
colonies is to di\dde them up after the honey crop is over. This must 
be done with great care and requires some experience to accomplish 
successfully at this time. Buy some extra queens to introduce into 
the queenless hives, because good queens are not easily raised after 
the hone)'- flow has ceased. The best queens are produced under 
swarming conditions \-ia quantities of honey coming in and quantities 
of young and hatching brood. Your queens will be sent you in mailing 
cages and on the reverse side of the cardboard \\ith your name and 
address will be printed directions for introducing them.* Each queen 
and her retinue, about a dozen workers, will be in a separate cage. 
Do not dixdde your colonies before your queens have arrived, for that 
may cause the queenless colonies to start queen cells, and a colony 
vdth queen cells mil not accept a new queen. Place a cage in each of 
your queenless hives and arrange a feeder** in each hive. Feed the 
bees for about a week ; this •uill make them better tempered and more 
friendly with the new queen. The cage has ^^•ire cloth so the bees 
can become accustomed to the queen before she is liberated. At 
*See Introducing, in ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture. This book to the bee- 
keeper is what Bailey's Cyclopedia is to the horticulturist. 
**See Feeding; and Feeders in the ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture. 
