70 HOW TO KEEP BEES 



and while we are hunting we are wasting precious 

 time, as the swarm may make up its collective mind 

 to remove from our vicinity its component atoms. 

 In shaking, or dipping, or brushing the bees into the 

 hive, we should remember to deal with them as 

 gently as the situation and mental perturbation will 

 permit. 



Sometimes the bees seem to feel defrauded at hav- 

 ing a house chosen for them, and insist upon swarm- 

 ing out of their new quarters within a day or two 

 after they are placed in possession. Thus it is a 

 wise precaution to give the hives of the newly 

 swarmed attention for two or three days, lest they 

 indulge in this sort of perversity. If the bees seem 

 unsettled and unhappy, and hang around home 

 instead of going into the fields to work, it is advisable 

 to place in the middle of the hive a frame of unsealed 

 brood taken from some other colony. A bee's 

 motherly instinct may always be depended upon, 

 since caring for the young is a shining civic virtue 

 as well as a domestic duty among the bee people. 

 When there are helpless larvae to care for, the bees 

 willingly forego every personal inclination to pack 

 up and move, and cheerfully proceed to give the 

 youngsters every attention. 



DECOY HIVES 



When the self-appointed scouts of a bee colony 

 start out house-hunting for the swarm which is about 

 to issue, they evidently examine the premises care- 

 fully; if they find a house for rent in the immediate 



