109 
THIS FINAL SWARMING. 
This should be done as soon as the queen has become 
fertile, if the weather is pleasant and the bees are flying 
in large numbers. To ascertain whether or not the 
queen has become fertile, open the nucleus on the 
eleventh or twelfth day and examine the combs for 
eggs; their presence is proof of her fertility ; now con- 
fine the queen in a queen cage. This is made by wind- 
ing a piece of wire-cloth three inches square, woven 
about sixteen wires to the inch, around the finger, with 
a cork fitted in one end, and the cage slightly flattened; 
to capture the queen, hold the open end of the cage 
before her, while she travels over the comb, and as soon 
a? she has entered, fasten the open end with another 
cork and place the cage between the combs, where the 
bees are most thickly clustered ; fill up the nucleus hive 
with empty frames, and exchange the hives, placing the 
old stock on the stand of the nucleus, and the nucleus 
hive where the old stock stood. Thus the old beei 
from the old stock, returning to their old stand, are 
thrown into the nucleus hive; while the young bees re- 
maining in the old stock, and the begs from the nu- 
cleus hive, will take care ol the brood until aided by 
the constantly hatching bees. After thirty-six hours, 
the bees returning to their old stand, will have joined 
the nucleus swarm, and the queen may be liberated ; to 
do it, blow a little smoke into the hive, open it, re- 
