354 



THE INSECT WORLD. 



which the bees may enter. A great part of the bees which 

 fall into the hive hook themselves on to its sides ; but a good 

 number are dropped on the linen when the hive is turned. This 

 is the manner in which you act when it is determined to lodge the 

 swarm ; but when the swarm is to be lodged in another hive, as 

 we shall see further on, immediately that the bees recognise the 

 lodging which is destined for them, they set to work to beat to 

 arms, and to enter in a compact column their new dwelling ; those 

 which are fluttering about in the air are summoned by this call, 

 and are not long in alighting on the spot where the rest of their 



Fig. 325. Bell-shaped hive. 



Fig. 326. English hive. 



companions are fixed. At the end of a quarter or half an hour 

 at the most, all, or nearly all, have entered the hive. A few 

 still hover about round the place where the swarm was fixed. If 

 the number is considerable, and if many have stopped in this 

 place, you must make them quit it by placing some offensive herb 

 such as celandine, horehound, field camomile, &c., on it, or project 

 the smoke of a rag upon them, which will drive away the bees and 

 force them to look for the colony or to return to the mother- 

 hive. You may also project smoke, but in moderate quantities, 

 on the bees grouped around and on the borders of the lodging 



