^36 



tact with the metal they will rise in a cloud so furiously angry that they 

 will sting every living thing in sight. 



The request for a smoker created some little discussion as its use at 

 swarming time is generally considered unnecessary. He however explained 

 that in his opinion there were guards set on the outside of the cluster just 

 as there is at the entrance of the hive when the bees are pursuing their 

 routine activities, and his purpose in smoking the swarm before shaking it 

 was to subdue the vigilance of the watchers. 



Little needs to be said about the individual photographs of the series. 

 Fig. 3 shows the swarm clustered on the branch, and it may be considered 

 as fairly typical. Of course there are many instances when they are not 

 conveniently lodged for handling, in fact it is not uncommon to find their 

 position to be such that the easiest way to gather them in is to cut off the 

 branch and carry the whole thing to the hive. In Fig. 4 we see the swarm 

 being smoked. 



Figure 5 indicates how the bees drop into the pan when a sudden down- 

 ward jerk is given the branch. When the shock is a sudden one a repe- 

 tition of the movement is rarely necessary. 



In Fig. 6 the camera catches the beekeeper shaking out the bees on the 



Fig. 6. Shaking the bees in front of the hive. 



