bees at the beginning of the honey-flow seem to be getting ready to swarm, the hive is moved to one side of the stand and on the exact site is placed another just like it, which contains frames set with foundation starters. As gently as possible the bees are shaken or brushed from the frames of the old hive upon the threshold of the new, great care being taken to include the queen. The supers from the old hive are then placed upon the new hive with a queen-excluder between. The old hive may stand beside the new one until the brood has emerged, when all of the inhabitants of the old tenement are shaken in front of the new habitation. This shaking of a colony into a new hive so surprises and confounds the bees that they get the impression that they have already swarmed, and go to work with all diligence in their new quarters. The partly filled supers from the old hive encourage them mightily in the ways of well-doing.
By dividing swarms.—This method we have practised with quite satisfactory results. The troublous question is just when to divide. If we divide too soon we weaken the colonies, and decrease the honey harvest. If we wait until too late, the bees do the dividing themselves. The process is as follows: The queen's wings are clipped before the new queen is to emerge, and she is placed in a new hive furnished with brood-frames containing foundation-starters; enough of the bees are taken to the hive with her to start a good colony, and the deed is done. However, the fact remains that in this way the number
