DRIVING SWARMS FROM BOX HIVES. 
59 
hive. The queen will frequently be seen to enter among the 
rest. The old bees are the first to start, leaving most of the 
young ones back upon the sheet. If the swarm be large, when 
all have entered but a quart or two, take them up with the sheet 
and carry them to the old stock, as that is often too much 
weakened by drumming, to properly nurse the brood, and its 
strength will be still further reduced by some of the older bees 
returning to their former location. But these upon the sheet 
being all young bees will remain wherever placed. If, however, 
we did not see the queen enter the new hive, these young bees 
must not be allowed to enter the old stock without being made 
to crawl slowly over the white sheet, to see that the queen is 
not among them. If she be found give her to the drummed 
swarm in the new hive. If from any cause the drummed swarm 
should fail to get the queen, a young queen would probably be 
reared from the brood in the comb placed in the hive to keep the 
bees from deserting it, but by the time she would hatch the hive 
would, in all probability, be filled with worthless drone comb as 
very little, if any, worker comb will be built while the colony 
is without a hatched queen. In drumming out swarms, we can 
secure the queen about nine times in ten, but should we fail she 
can seldom be induced to leave by further drumming at that 
time. If an Italian or other queen is not at hand for the 
drummed swarm, return it to the old stock, placing it on the 
original stand, and repeat the process another day. Swarms are 
harder to drive in the cool of the morning than later in the day. 
Also, if the hive is but partly filled with combs they are less 
willing to leave it. After a swarm has been driven out valuable 
