Repetition Prevented
Categories:
SWARMING.
Bee Keeping:
Mysteries Of Bee-keeping Explained
Sometimes a swarm will issue and return three or four days in
succession, but this I generally remedy, as it is often owing to some
inability of the queen, and she may be frequently found while the swarm
is leaving outside the hive, unable to fly. In such cases it is only
necessary to have a tumbler ready, and watch for her; and as soon as
she appears, secure her, get 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 replaced. 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.