Too much care cannot be exercised to keep off the sun from a swarm when it has once settled. If exposed to heat in this way, bees are very likely to decamp. We have frequently stretched matting or sheeting on poles so as to intercept the glare, and thus render their temporary position cool and comfortable. For the same reason the hive used to take them in should not have been standing in the sun. Two swarms sometimes depart at the same time, and join together; in such a case we recommend that they be treated as one, by putting them into a hive as before described, taking care to give abundant room and not to delay affording access to the super hive or glasses. They will settle their own notions of sovereignty by one queen being destroyed. There are means of separating two swarms, but the operation is a formidable one, and does not always repay even those most accustomed to such manipulation. If after one swarm has started there are signs of another setting out which might mix with it, means may be taken for securing the queen of the second, or sheets may be thrown over the hive. With regard to preparations for taking a swarm, our advice to the bee-keeper must be the reverse of Mrs. Glass's notable injunction as to the cooking of a hare. Some time before you expect to take a swarm, be sure to have a suitable hive in which to take it, and also every other requisite properly ready. A bee veil or dress will preserve the most sensitive from the possibility of being stung. This article is fully described on page 209. But bees when swarming are in an eminently peaceful frame of mind; having dined sumptuously, they require to be strongly provoked before they will sting. Yet there may be one or two foolish bees who, having neglected to fill their honey-bags, are inclined to vent their ill-humour on the apiarian; or, what is far more likely, the bees of neighbouring hives may be incensed if they see him manifesting unusual excitement. When all is ready the new hive (a straw skep is the most convenient in the first instance, but if that is not at hand a box or anything else will serve as a substitute) is held or placed in an inverted position under the cluster of bees, which the operator detaches from their perch with one or two quick shakes; the floor-board is next placed on the hive, which is then slowly turned up on to its base, and it is well to leave it a short time in the same place, in order to allow of stragglers joining their companions. The operator should make sure that he has not left the queen behind on the branch, as in that case the bees would return to her.