Sometimes swarms alight on trunks of trees or on walls, where it may be difficult to shake or brush them off. The late Mr. Woodbury mentioned an instance of this kind. A swarm clustered among the large branches of a pear tree, just at their point of union with the trunk. In this case he merely supported a straw hive just over the swarm with the left hand, whilst he struck the trunk of the tree with the open palm of the right. The vibration thus produced sent the bees up into the hive with great rapidity, and the entire swarm was speedily hived in the most satisfactory manner. Mr. Langstroth in a similar case fastened a leafy branch above the bees with a gimlet, and then smoked them upwards till clustered upon it. It should be borne in mind that they have always a readier tendency to ascend than to descend. A feather dipped in carbolic acid will very promptly move them, and as they can readily escape from its fumes there is no objection in this case to its use. Another case of settling in an awkward spot is mentioned above (page 78). If the new swarm is intended for transportation to a distance, it is as well for it to be left at the same spot until evening, provided the sun is shaded from it; but if the hive is meant to stand in or near the same garden, it is better to remove it within half an hour to its permanent position, because so eager are newly swarmed bees for pushing forward the work of furnishing their empty house that they sally forth at once in search of materials. If the removal has been made after they have gone forth they will be unable to find their home in its altered position, in which case they will circle about for hours till they fall and die from exhaustion. But by prompt transference, only the first despatch of scouts will be lost, and these are a good loss, as they might entice the whole colony to desert. The bee-master should always seek to prevent his labourers from swarming more than once; his policy is rather to encourage the industrious gathering of honey, by keeping a sufficient supply of supers on the hives. Sometimes, however, he may err in putting on the supers too early or unduly late, and the bees will then swarm a second time, instead of making use of the storerooms thus provided. In such a case the clever apiarian, having spread the swarm on the ground, will select the queen, and cause the bees to go back to the hive from whence they came. But this operation requires an amount of apiarian skill which, though it may easily be attained, is greater than is usually possessed. For a description of the theory and phenomena of swarming, with the signs by which its imminence may be gathered, and a variety of information referring chiefly to the habits and life of the insect, the reader is referred to an earlier article in this work (Chap. I. § xi.). § II. TRANSFERRING SWARMS.