Some Compulsion
Categories:
SWARMING.
Bee Keeping:
Mysteries Of Bee-keeping Explained
After getting them in the hive for the fourth time, I resolved not to
be baffled or have much more such trouble, and perhaps go to the woods
at last, thereby setting a bad example. I put under the hive the
wire-cloth bottom-board, opened two or three holes on the top, and
covered these also with wire-cloth, (this was to let the air
circulate); a quantity of honey and water was given them and they were
then carried to t
e cellar, and kept prisoners four days, except half
an hour before sunset; when too late to leave for a journey, I set them
out to provide a few necessaries, and then returned them to the cellar.
In four days, when _honey enough_ is given them, a good swarm will half
fill an ordinary hive with combs. Some of the first eggs deposited will
be about hatching into larvae, all of which would seem like too much to
leave. I now set them out, and gave them liberty; shading the hive,
&c., as before directed. They all proved faithful and industrious,
prospering like others. If their design was for a distant location,
they put a good face on the matter in the end.