SWARMING. 
223 
the empty hive for the swarm, a sheet, and put down 
a bottom-board a few feet from the stock. The swarm 
is sure to come back; the first bees that alight on the 
hive will set up the call ; as soon as this is perceived, 
lose no time in setting the old stock on the board, and 
throwing the sheet over it to keep out the bees. Put 
the new one in its place on the stand, and the queen in 
it; in a few minutes the swarm will be in the new 
hive, when it can be removed, and the old one re- 
placed. This I have done many times. But should 
the swarm begin to cluster in a convenient place, when 
you have so caught the queen, by being expeditious 
she may be put with the swarm, before they have 
missed her and may be hived in the usual way. 
LIABILITY" TO ENTER WRONG STOCKS. 
In all cases, whether you set a new hive in place 
of the old one or not, whenever a swarm returns, if 
other stocks stand close on each side, they are quite 
sure to receive a portion of the bees— probably a few 
hundreds ; these are certain to be massacred. To pre- 
vent which, it is necessary to throw sheets over them 
until the swarm has gathered on their own hive. This 
is another reason for plenty of room between stocks. 
Should no queen be discovered during their issue, or 
icturn, she should be sought for in the vicinity of the 
hive, and put back if found, and the swarm will be 
likely to issue several days earlier, than to wait for a 
young queen. 
When the old queen is actually lost, and the bees 
have returned to wait for a young one, it is often 
