22 
NATURAL SWARMING. 
ing filled themselves with honey before leaving the old hive, they 
are usually peaceable and almost as harmless as flies. If they 
should clog the entrance, disturb them gently with the feather 
end of a quill, and, if any cluster upon the outside, brush them 
down and see that all enter lest the queen he left out. Now, let 
the hive down upon the hoard, and immediately carry it to the 
place it is intended to occupy in the apiary. Raise the front 
edge half an inch, and shade the hive from the sun. The few 
bees left flying will soon return to the old stock from which the 
swarm issued. But if the swarm is left where it was hived till 
evening, many bees will have commenced gathering honey, and, 
having carefully marked their new location, will, as they fly out, 
the next morning return to this place and perish. If a swarm 
should cluster upon a high limb or body of a tree, ascend upon a 
ladder and shake or brush them into a basket, and cover it over 
with a cloth to prevent their flying. The basket may be lowered 
with a cord to an assistant, or brought down, and gently poured 
upon the sheet at the entrance of the hive. When the swarm 
has clustered upon a small limb, it may be carefully severed with- 
out disturbing the cluster, and carried to the hive. Hold them 
to the entrance until some discover the hive, when all will gladly 
enter. 
If a swarm cluster in some inaccessible place, as the forks of a 
tree, they may often be induced to enter a box inverted above 
them, by smoking or slightly sprinkling them with water, or by 
partly covering the box to make it resemble the entrance to a 
hive, brush a few in and they will soon call in the whole swarm. 
To hive a swarm in the movable-comb hive, remove the small 
