210 
ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. 
the proper age, and fixed it in a Huber hive which 
had died out during the preceding winter, and was 
now full of empty comb. We then removed to the 
opposite side of the garden, and quite out of sight, 
one of the hives which had an outlying, or rather out- 
hanging mass attached to its alighting-hoard, instantly 
clapping down in its place on the same hoard the 
already prepared hive, and, with the help of a hot sun, 
forcing the others to enter. They made a tremendous 
noise, and seemed much disconcerted at finding, in- 
stead of the rich combs they had hitherto been familiar 
with, nothing but empty cells. This agitation was 
kept up all the day by the continued arrival of those 
bees which had been abroad when the substitution 
took place, and who added greatly to the population. 
At noon next day we inspected the new establishment, 
and found, to our great satisfaction, that the experi- 
ment had completely succeeded. The foundations of 
three royal cells had been laid in the small piece of 
brood comb we had given them. In due time the 
Queen was hatched, the hive prospered, and at the 
end of the season, we took from it nine quarts of 
honey. I may observe, that, though it was a Huber’s 
hive we used on this occasion, it would have succeeded 
equally well with a straw one ; the construction of 
the hive had no influence on the experiment farther 
than that it rendered it easier to fasten the piece of 
brood comb, from its being made to open in leaves.* 
* We repeated this operation on a common hive this season, 
(1834.) sending off the artificial swarm immediately to the 
heath. On bringing it hack, three weeks afterwards, we found 
