Had this bee keeper placed his hire on the table, _as soon as the bees were clustered_, and raised the front edge one inch, instead of four or six inches, and then, instead of cutting off the limbs, if he had taken a basket or pan, placed it beneath the cluster of bees, and by a sudden jar of the limb dislodged them from it into the basket or pan, then emptied them down in front of the hive, and sprinkled lightly with a little water, at the same time disturbing them gently with a quill or light brush so they would not collect around and block up the entrance, except a very few that may be flying in the air (and these will return to the old hive,) in this way getting them all into the hive, and immediately carrying it to the stand it was to occupy, covering it with a board to shade it from the hot rays of the sun, or placing it in the shade of a tree, he would have saved his bees, the damage to his pear tree, and much perplexity. By the old methods of managing bees, there were no means of knowing when to expect swarms; consequently the bees were sometimes watched all summer, in expectation of swarms any pleasant day, as outside indications were fa vol able for them; yet they would often adhere to the old hive throughout the entire summer. With the controllable hive and new system of bee management, as shown in this work, swarming is brought completely under the control of the bee keeper. It is well for him to understand _correctly_ what are the requisites and preparations for natural swarming by the bees, when left to themselves in a natural state. They are as follows: The bees must be obtaining honey freely, either from flowers, or from feed supplied them. The combs must be filled with brood in all stages of growth, from the egg just deposited in the cell, to the perfect bee just emerging. (And from this, bee keepers will note what conditions are required at the time swarms are forced, as recommended in my plan.) When this condition of affairs is reached, the bees construct queen cells, (that is, if they deride to swarm; they will do as they like about it, if left entirely to themselves,) from which in about sixteen days the queens will hatch, unless the bees should change their intentions, and decide not to swarm, and destroy all the queen cells. Remember, they are having it all their own way. When these cells are sealed over and finished is the time (if everything is favorable), when the first swarm leaves, led off by the old queen. Some of the most reliable works on bees have taught that the queen cells _must be half finished before the queen will deposit the egg that is to produce the queen;_ but this, I find by close observation, is a mistake; for if you take the queen away from a stock, _with no queen cells in any stage of formation in the hive_, the bees will rear a queen _from a worker egg, deposited in an ordinary worker cell_. And who shall say they do not do this when the queen is present? I am satisfied they do.