110 
move one cork from the queen cage and tie one thick- 
ness of wet newspaper over the opening, and replace 
the cage ; this will still confine the queen until the bees 
get over the excitement caused by the disturbance. 
By that time the bees will have removed the wet paper, 
and the queen will liberate herself. 
If the bees are swarmed when but a small number 
are flying, and the uncleus swarm should appear 
deficient in numbers, it should be strengthened in three 
or four days, by inserting some frames, containing 
capped brood, from the parent stock. 
If the bees are swarmed before the queen has become 
fertile, we run the risk of depriving a whole swarm of 
their queen, by losing her when she is out to meet 
the drones ; or if confined to the cage, she is wholly 
prevented from leaving the hive for impregnation ; and 
if not caged, she is liable to be killed by the bees, that 
returning to their old stand, find a strange queen. If 
the supply of forage has been temporarily checked by 
a storm or drought, the bees will not return filled with 
honey, and the danger of losing the queen, unless 
caged, is increased. 
If the swarming is done early in the season, (as it 
should be,) or when the nights are cool, the heat in the 
hive should be economized, by giving the bees access to 
only as many empty frames as they can crowd, by us- 
ing the board from the nucleus employed while queen- 
