352 THE INSECT WOELD. 



The habits of bees in their wild state, which make their nests 

 in the trunks of trees and other cavities, do not differ from, those 

 of domesticated bees. Only the latter become tame with man, 

 getting used to those who look after them, and becoming less 

 aggressive towards strangers. 



Apiculture, or bee-keeping, is still at the present day an im- 

 portant business, although honey has lost a great deal of its 

 utility since the introduction of sugar into Europe. Without 

 entering into many details on apiculture, that is to say, on the 

 attention it is necessary to pay to bees, we will mention the 

 principal duties of the bee-keeper. 



When, in the spring, the bee font la barbe (as the French 

 say), that is, when they are getting ready to swarm, one must 

 watch narrowly, so as not to lose them. As soon as a swarm 

 has settled on a tree or on any artificial resting-place prepared on 

 purpose in the neighbourhood, it is approached, after having 

 covered one's face with a piece of transparent linen or canvas, or 

 with a hood, and the cluster is caused to fall into a hive turned 

 upside down. The hive is then turned up again and put in its 

 place ; or else, if it is only to serve for the conveyance of the 

 swarm to another place, shaken about before the door of the 

 hive which the swarm is destined to occupy. The bees then 

 beat to arms, and set to work to enter their new habitation in 

 a compact column. Fig. 324 represents the manner in which one 

 ought to proceed in order to gather a swarm of bees, which is fixed 

 on a branch of a tree, and introduce it into the hive prepared for it. 

 Let us listen on this subject to an experienced bee-keeper, M. 

 Hamet : " As soon as a swarm has fixed itself anywhere, and there 

 are only a few bees fluttering round the cluster, you must make your 

 preparations for lodging them in a hive you have got ready for the 

 purpose. Some people rub the hive on the inside with aromatic 

 plants or honey, with the object of making the bees fix themselves 

 there more surely. This precaution is not indispensable. What 

 is essential is, that the hive should be clean and free from any bad 

 smell. It is a good thing to pass it beforehand over the flame of a 

 straw fire, which destroys the eggs of insects and insects them- 

 selves which may have lodged in it. 



" After having covered your head with a camail, if the swarm has 



