ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 
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ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 
Any one who decides for his hens when they must set, 
must not be too fast in objecting to artificial swarms. I have 
for years practised artificial swarming about as much as the 
natural way and like each about alike. I love to see bees 
swarm in the usual way, and if they always come just when 
I want them and have time to attend to them, I would per- 
haps let them have their own way generally. But if they 
are likely to swarm when I expect to be from home, or so 
engaged that I cannot attend to them ; or if they are near 
some high trees where it would be difficult to get them down, 
if they clustered on them ; or if I desire turning all the 
strength of my bees to making swarms instead of surplus 
honey, I take the matter into my own hand, and divide them 
to suit myself : and it seems to make no more difference 
which of the ways than it docs to a hen whether they are her 
own or another’s eggs she sits on. 
HOW TO PROCEED. 
Go to a hive that can spare a swarm ; blow smoke on the 
bees outside the hive to drive them in ; blow a little in the 
under end of the hive to make the bees submissive; invert 
the htVe ; set an empty one on the top of it ; tie a sheet 
around where the two hives meet to prevent the bees coming 
out; with a light hammer give the hive a few raps ; the bees 
will proceed to fill themselves with honey, as they do when 
they swarm naturally ; then in five minutes commence rap- 
ping briskly on the hive, and in ten or tweuty minutes two- 
thirds or more of the bees will be in the upper hive. These, 
with those that will return from foraging, will constitute tho 
new swarm. You need not be afraid to lean the top of the 
hive over some to see if there have enough bees gone up. 
They will not sting at this stage of progress. It is supposed 
that the queen has gone into the upper hive, and that the old 
one has the means of rearing others. Their relative condi- 
tion is therefore much the same as if a swarm had been given 
off naturally, except the old hive will not have queen-cells so 
far on the way. But this makes no difference if you will only 
supply them with a queen-cell, as recommended elsewhere, 
which would now be of great advantage to do. While this 
