SWARMING 
797 
or brush. It is well to place a wide board 
in front of the hive on which to pour the 
swarm when hived in this way. 
Sometimes it is more convenient to carry 
the hive to the cluster than to carry the 
cluster to the hive. In such cases the "hive 
should be carried to its permanent location 
as soon as the bees have entered. Where 
there are many colonies in the apiary 
swarms should be hived as quickly as pos¬ 
sible or other swarms may issue, and sev¬ 
eral of them unite if not cared for prompt¬ 
ly. 
This swarm of bees issued June 7 from a colony 
of bees that produced 180 pounds of comb honey 
the same season. 
If a swarm clusters on a limb too high to 
be reached from the ground, it is sometimes 
necessary to use a ladder to reach them. If 
the bees cluster on a limb too large to be 
cut or shaken, part of them can sometimes 
be scooped up in a dipper and poured out 
at the entrance of the hive. In such cases 
it is well to put the hive on a stepladder or 
a box so its entrance will be against the 
cluster. By scooping up some of the bees 
or by brushing them so they will fall upon 
the alighting-board of the hive, they can be 
induced to enter and set up a call for their 
comrades to follow. 
HOW TO GET A SWARM FROM AN 
INACCESSIBLE LIMB. 
Sometimes a swarm will alight upon a 
limb beyond the reach of any ladder. Pos¬ 
sibly, also, the limb upon which the bees 
are clustered is so far out from the body 
of the tree that it would not sustain the 
weight of any one climbing after them. 
Such a swarm can usually be reached in 
the following manner: A stone about as 
large as the single fist is tied at the end of 
a good line. If one is not a good thrower 
himself he can get some boy who is a good 
ballplayer to perform the throwing act. 
He should uncoil a considerable quantity 
of the line, and then throw the stone into a 
crotch if one is near the swarm. If he is 
lucky enough to land the stone in the 
crotch, he should draw gently on the line 
until the stone catches in the fork. One 
quick jerk will dislodge the bees, and after 
that the limb should be kept in a tremble 
until the bees cluster on some other spot, 
which they will do presently if the limb is 
kept agitated for five or ten minutes. They 
may cluster higher up, but the probabilities 
are they will seek some other spot more 
accessible. 
If there is no convenient crotch at the 
right point, the stone should be thrown so 
it will pass over the limb, taking about one 
foot of line. The string should be given 
a good jerk, causing the stone with the 
line to whirl around the limb a couple of 
times. If one does not succeed in doing 
this the first time or two, a third or fourth 
attempt may be successful. It is not a 
very difficult trick; but the main thing is 
to get the line attached to the limb at some 
point near the swarm. 
Some throw a line over a limb above the 
swarm and then use the line to draw a 
light rope over the limb to which a hive can 
be attached. If the hive can be brought up 
close to the cluster and the limb shaken to 
dislodge the bees, so that many of them 
will fall into the uncovered hive, the entire 
swarm may then enter the hive when it 
can easily be lowered to the ground. 
