88 THE HUMBLE-BEE 



time. To avoid waiting for bees to appear I find it 

 a good plan to blow down the hole ; this, provided 

 the nest is not a great way off, or in a branch hole, 

 will bring up a bee, often several, immediately, or 

 at least it will cause buzzing, which assures one 

 that the right hole is being followed. For this 

 purpose a flexible pneumatic tube with a mouth- 

 piece would, I should think, be very convenient and 

 effective. As a boy I did not mind putting my head 

 down into the cavity to blow into the hole. 



It is a good plan to stuff rags into any branch 

 holes one has temporarily abandoned, then one can 

 easily find them again and follow them up if the hole 

 that is being worked at proves abortive. In cases 

 where the hole is lost and choked the onlv thing to 

 do is to scrape out the cavity and leave the nest 

 until another day, when it will generally be found 

 that the bees have made a way for themselves in 

 and out again. 



When workers begin rushing out in numbers in 

 quick succession it is a sign that we are not far from 

 the nest, especially if some of them are immature. 

 One must be careful not to plunge the trowel into 

 the comb, but generally one gets warning that the 

 nest is being approached the loud deep buzz of 

 the agitated queen, often accompanied by the feeble 

 murmur of several recently emerged workers, which 

 are now likely to run out, and finally the appearance 

 of the nest material. In order to unearth the nest 

 without injuring it, it is advisable to undermine it. 

 While this work is proceeding the queen may rush 



