THE APIARY. 
433 
case of swarms, failure is scarcely possible. Bees, 
in the absence of combs, very rarely fight ; and 
swarms, filled as they are with honey, never do so 
(see page 148). It is only necessary to throw them 
down in front of the hive they are to occupy, and 
allow them to mingle as they enter. Of the queens, 
one only will be allowed to survive ; and it is 
wise, if these are regarded as of unequal value, on 
account of difference in age or race, to remove the 
inferior: but no harm, per se, will result from per- 
mitting the bees to settle the question. If one swarm 
has been established even a few days, a second may 
be added to it, in the evening, after flying is over, 
if, at the moment the second lot is thrown down, 
sufficient smoke be driven in at the hive mouth to 
send back the guards. Watching is now desirable, 
and any indication of fighting should be followed at 
once by a fairly liberal use of the smoker. Where 
tiering hives are used, the second swarm can con- 
veniently be added in an under storey, but the first 
swarm must be lifted with much caution, lest the 
growing combs suffer fracture. 
Additions to established stocks require more care ; 
and especially is this true with condemned bees (page 
369), or they may be “ killed to a man,’’ and so be 
a source of weakness to those they were Intended to 
strengthen. If the condemned bees, as is frequently 
the case, are empty and hungry — and such are never 
easily united to those on combs — they should, despite 
the trouble it involves, be first fed, or, at least, 
copiously sprinkled with syrup, when they may thus 
be united to a frame hive. Jerk or brush the bees 
VoL. II. 2 F 
