of an overcrowded hive on a hot day; this latter is a most cogent reason, and it is well for the bee-keeper to shade his hives to prevent this. The swarms are likely to issue between 9 a. m. and 2 p. m., although enough swarms come off at unseemly hours to make any rule valueless except as a prophecy. (Plate XI.)
HOW TO HIVE A SWARM
"The bees are swarming!" These are magical words, which arouse every member of that family whose pride is a few hives in the garden. It is a cry that starts the sluggish blood, and sends a quiver of excitement up and down the spinal column while one rushes to the scene of action. How gracefully that moving mass of black particles undulates in the air, as if it were a drifting cloud instead of a self-willed, one-minded colony of socialists! How the heart rises and sinks inversely to this rise and fall, and how hopeless it seems when the swarm lifts itself superbly over all surrounding obstacles, and disappears above the tree tops! No one who has had this experience will wonder at the ancient custom which obtains even now in the country districts on such occasions of beating tin pans, ringing bells, and shouting "whoa" at the top of the lungs. All of this racket had its inception in the needs of the bee-keeper to adequately express his feelings at this crisis. If the bees ever stopped and settled because of this din, it was probably from sheer amazement at witnessing such folly on the part of human beings; this explanation would hold, perhaps, if bees ever
