52 
BEE-CULTURE. 
them and put wads of paper between them to hold them in 
place. The cloth over the mouth of the hive will give the 
bees air enough. Hauling bees a half hour or more gener- 
ally removes the disposition to sting Set the bees on the 
stand where you intend them to remain before letting them 
fly. 
A convenient arrangement for carrying a swarm isa tea chest 
with wire cloth over the mouth or bottom of it, and also over 
a hole three or four inches square made in the side of it. Have 
a leather handle tacked on the top. One of such hives can be 
carried in each hand conveniently. To secure the wire cloth 
to the bottom, use a light wooden frame or strips tacked all 
around the edge of the wire cloth, with inoh and a half screws 
through them to fasten to the bottom of the box. If only 
screwed two-thirds way in, they will hold the box up so as to 
give the bees air when the box is set down. 
SWARMING. 
It is said, “A swarm of bees in May is worth a ton of hay ; 
a swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon ; but a swarm 
of bees in July is not worth a fly.” 
If this be so, the number of swarms not worth a fly are 
many more than those worth a ton of hay. The last halt of 
June yields the greatest number of swarms. The latter part 
of every season is not alike good for making honey; and some 
years a colony will collect as much after the first of July as 
they will other years after the first of June. Yet it is true 
that swarms in July are generally of little value in this lo- 
cality. One in the middle of May is worth as much as a half 
dozen the first of July. A variety of circumstances combine 
to make one hive give off several swarms, and another, appa- 
rently as good, not any. 
That bees come out of their hives in swarms, make a great 
noise, then settle and wait awhile where the keeper can hive 
them, is a phenomenon admirably adapted to the wants of bee- 
culturists. The fact that a colony of bees will not produce 
nearly so much honey if they give off a swarm as ii they did 
not, has induced some to adopt the non swarming system, 
which, besides being less trouble, has some other advantages; 
but the advantages of the increase of stock in the swarming 
plan far oxceed them. As the capacity of a queen’s laying 
