, (often to the injury of valuable trees,) and
placing the hive over the bees, frequently crushing large numbers, and
endangering the life of the queen, should be entirely abandoned. A
swarm may be hived in the proper way with far less risk and trouble, and
in much less time. In large Apiaries managed on the swarming plan, where
a number of swarms come out on the same day, and there is constant
danger of their mixing,[16] the speedy hiving of swarms is an object of
great importance. If the new hive does not stand where it is to remain
for the season, it should be removed to its permanent stand as soon as
the bees have entered; for if allowed to remain to be removed in the
evening, or early next morning, the scouts which have left the cluster,
in search of a hollow tree, will find the bees when they return, and
will often entice them from the hive. There is the greater danger of
this, if the bees have remained on the tree, a considerable time before
they were hived. I have invariably found that swarms which abandon a
suitable hive for the woods, have been hived near the spot where they
clustered, and allowed to remain to be moved in the evening. If the bees
swarm early in the day, they will generally begin to work in a few
hours (or in less time, if they have empty comb,) and many more may be
lost by returning next day to the place where they were hived, than
would be lost, by removing them as soon as they have entered; in this
latter case, the few that are on the wing, will generally be able to
find the hive if it is slowly moved to its permanent stand.

If the Apiarian wishes to secure the queen, the bees should be shaken
from the hiving basket, about a foot from the entrance to the hive, and
if a careful look-out is kept, she will generally be seen as she passes
over the sheet, to the entrance. Care must be taken to brush the bees
back from the entrance when they press forward in such dense masses that
the queen is likely to enter unnoticed. An experienced eye readily
catches a glance of her peculiar form and color. She may be taken up
without danger, as she never stings, unless engaged in combat with
another queen. As it will sometimes happen, even to careful bee-keepers,
that swarms will come off when no suitable hives are in readiness to
receive them, I shall show what may be done in such an emergency. Take
any old hive, box, cask, or measure, and hive the bees in it, placing
them with suitable protection against th