TAKING THE SWARM
Bee-keepers watch for the issuing of the swarm, and when it occurs
they get ready to take it, so as to fill another hive with bees.
Having found where the bees are hanging, an empty hive is brought to
the spot and placed under the branch. The bees are then shaken into
it, or they may be even gathered in handfuls, or with a spoon, and
placed in the new hive (see Plate XXVII.). At the time of swarming
bees are practically harmless, for they have taken so much honey that
they do not feel disposed to sting. The old straw skeps are often used
for taking a swarm, for they may be more conveniently handled than
the larger and heavier wooden hives. The hive which is to be their
permanent home is placed close at hand too, with a clean white cloth
on a board leading to the door in front of it. After the bees have
been shaken into the skep they are emptied on to the cloth, and at
once commence to walk into their new home (Plate XXVIII.). There are
thousands upon thousands of bees in a swarm, and pictures of them going
into new hives are shown on Plates XXIX. and XXX. In order to show
how harmless the bees are at swarming time, the bee-man in the first
picture has taken a handful of them, as we may see.
There is an old rhyme which says:
“A swarm in May, worth a load of hay,
A swarm in June, worth a silver spoon,”
and the bee-keeper is pleased should his bees swarm in May, for then
he will be able to put them in a new hive, and they will gather a good
supply of honey before the summer is over. Should the swarm take place
a month or two later, however, the bees do not settle down in time to
gather sufficient honey for the winter, and they cause the bee-keeper
trouble, for he has to feed them with syrup.
After a swarm, the bees seem to forget all about their old life and
companions, for the hive containing the swarm may be placed quite close
to the old hive without either set of bees taking the slightest notice
of the other.
If a bee-keeper is not at hand to take the swarm, the bees will
probably make their home in some hollow tree. They will commence to
build combs, and young bees will be reared and honey stored just as in
a hive.
[Illustration: PLATE XXVIII
From a photograph by] [E. Hawks
Thousands of Bees walking into their New Home]