THE BEE. 2P9 



below the junction, so that not a bee may escape, it will be proper to 

 place an empty decoy hive upon tlie stand where tlic tiill liive stood, 

 to amuse any stragg-Jing bees tliat may have stayed out late, or that niav 

 escape (hirincr the operation. The conjoined hives are then to be removed 

 into a darkened room, in the manner ah'eady described, when, if the hive 

 be well peopled, and the weather warm, by drumming at first gently, and 

 then smartly with the open hands or a couple of sticks on the outside 

 of the hive, the bees will be so alarmed, that in a few minutes they will 

 have ascended into the super. The ascent may always be ascertained 

 by the humming noise attending it. The impulse thus communicated 

 to the bees should be given in the direction of the combs, and by no 

 means upon those parts of the hive which are opposite to their sides, as 

 it might separate them from their attachments." 



"The exchange of habitation having been etFectcd, the ulterior pro- 

 ceedings must be regulated by the object in view. l( it be wished to 

 have possession of the full hive, it will be simply necessary to leave tlie 

 decoy-hive in its place, and after covering the honey-combs with a cloth 

 to prevent them from being scented, to carry the bees with their tem- 

 porary abode toward tlieir usual place of entrance, when, by spreadinij^ 

 a cloth on the ground, or on a table, all the bees m;iy he dislodged ani] 

 made to fall upon it, by a smart stroke with the hands u])on the top of 

 the hive, and if one side of the cloth be raised to the resting-board, the 

 bees will gradually ascend, and reoccupy their original station." 



Driving is made use of by the Persian villagers, whose hives are made 

 in a cylindrical form, and built horizontally into the walls of their houses, 

 the bees' entrance being outside the wall, and a fnovable door inside, 

 the end of the hive projecting more than a foot into the room. WhcJi 

 the villager wishes for some honey, he drums smartlv upon the end Of 

 the hive which projects into his room, which causes the bees to withdraw 

 to the other end. The circular lid is then quickly opened, as many 

 combs as he wishes for cut out, and the lid closed again. 



No one should be without spare hives or boxes ready to be used when 

 required, even if they do not at the outset tit up a complete a|)paratus. 

 Thus— 



1. A spare box or hive will be ready to receive a swarm obtained in 

 the ordinary manner, with all its picturesque but inconvenient acces- 

 sories : as, long watching to know the moment of swarming; long riin- 

 nings, perhaps, to overtake the vagrant young colony, over hill and 

 valley, brake and brier, and amid interminable ear-splitting tumult, which 

 the bees have the bad taste, it is supposed, to like ; and the race o'l'-n 

 ending in seeing the w^hole cluster safely deposited in a neighl tor's 

 apiary, who swears it went from his hive. If you wish to avoid all that 

 kind of thing, do your best to give the bees no motive for such wander- 

 ings, and every conceivable reason to stay where they are. Put a decoy- 

 hive ready, with a delicious piece of comb in it (an old hive, with its 

 own combs, will be still more attractive), and it is most likely the scouts 

 sent out to explore will return with such a glowing account of the land 

 of milk and honey they have discovered, that the swarm will be im- 

 patient to be off and take possession. This must, however, be done 

 with great care, and the decoy-hive not placed in the air too soon, as 



