796 
SWARMING 
if a swarm issues during the beekeeper’s 
absence and loses its queen because she is 
clipped, the swarm having returned to the 
hive, it is necessary for the beekeeper to ex¬ 
amine the bees carefully within a week to 
destroy all but one of the queen-cells be¬ 
fore any of the young queens can emerge, 
since otherwise a swarm would issue ac¬ 
companied by a young queen. If the queen’s 
wings are clipped early in the spring, dur¬ 
ing fruit bloom if possible, it is not difficult 
to find the queen because there are not so 
many bees in the hives at this time. 
During recent years beekeepers have 
made such great progress in the matter of 
the prevention of swarming that some 
claim it does not pay to clip the wings of 
the queen because only a few swarms ever 
issue. . In some localities where swarming is 
easily prevented it does seem useless to find 
and clip the queens every spring when 
practically none of them ever attempt to 
swarm; but in locations where swarming is 
troublesome the beekeeper will feel much 
safer, especially in out-apiary work, if all 
of the queens are clipped. 
Some object to clipping the queens on 
the ground of the difficulty in finding them; 
while others are timid about picking up the 
queen to clip her wings, fearing they might 
injure her. Again, there are cases where 
the combs cannot be taken out of the hives 
to find the queen on account of being built 
crosswise. In all such cases the Alley trap, 
as described under Drones, can be used. 
This does practically the same thing as 
clipping the queen’s wings, but goes a step 
further since it catches the queen and holds 
her a prisoner until the beekeeper can take 
care of the swarm. 
HOW TO HIVE A SWARM. 
When the queen’s wings are clipped or 
when the Alley trap is used, hiving swarms 
is a simple matter. The parent hive is 
moved away while the swarm is out and a 
new one put in its place, so that the bees 
upon missing their queen will return and 
enter the new hive. See Aeter-swarming. 
While the author does not recommend 
that swarms be permitted to issue without 
either the queens’ wings being clipped or 
the use of the Alley trap, many swarms are 
permitted to issue in this way, therefore 
directions are here given for hiving such 
swarms. 
When a swarm issues it is not necessary 
to ring bells or beat tin pans as was for¬ 
merly done in order to induce the bees to 
settle. So far as can be determined, such 
a procedure has no effect whatever upon 
the swarming bees. In most cases after 
circling about for a short time, the bees 
will form a cluster without any help on the 
part of the beekeeper. It is sometimes a 
help to use a spray pump or a hose to 
throw water among the flying bees to pre¬ 
vent two swarms from uniting while in the 
air or to drive the swarming bees away from 
tall trees to induce them to cluster in a 
more convenient location. Throwing water 
among the flying bees is sometimes also use¬ 
ful to-stop a swarm that is leaving for the 
woods. A good drenching may cause them 
to cluster instead of absconding. Ordinarily, 
however, nothing need be done until the 
bees have clustered. 
If they cluster on a limb of a tree or 
bush where they can be conveniently 
reached, one of the simplest ways of hiving 
them is to cut off the limb above the clus¬ 
tered bees and carry it to the hive. Care 
must be taken in cutting off the limb not to 
jar it or the bees may drop off from the 
limb, take wing and cluster elsewhere. When 
the swarm is carried to the hive the limb can 
be laid down gently in front of the hive 
so that the bees will be as near as possible 
to the entrance. Some of the bees are then 
gently pushed into the entrance by means 
of a feather or twig so that they will start 
running in. As soon as they begin to run 
into the hive they set up a call for their 
comrades to follow, this probably being 
done by odor. When the bees are running 1 
into the hive rapidly the limb can be 
shaken to dislodge the remainder of the 
bees if it is desirable to hasten matters, but 
if there is no hurrv about hiving the swarm 
on account of the possibility of other 
swarms issuing and uniting with it, the 
bees can be left to take their time in crawl¬ 
ing into the hive. 
If the bees cluster on a limb that cannot 
well be spared or that is too large to cut 
off, they can be shaken from the limb into 
a basket, then carried to the hive and pour¬ 
ed out in front of it when they should im¬ 
mediately begin to run into the hive. WTen 
bees are poured out from a basket in this 
way some of them may start to run in the 
wrong 1 direction, but they can be guided 
toward the entrance by means of a feather 
