NATURAL SWARMING. 177 



On securing her, and placing her with a small cluster 

 of bees in the hive, the rest followed in crowds, till, 

 in two or three minutes, not a single one was left 

 on the girl, who was thus relieved from her anxious, 

 and what might have proved most dangerous posi- 

 tion, had she excited and alarmed the insects. 



The other incident is no less striking. A skilled 

 bee-master had a little friend who was very much 

 afraid of being stung. One day, a swarm having 

 come off, the queen was observed to settle by herself 

 at a short distance from the cluster. The gentleman 

 at once called the child to him, that he might show 

 her the queen. Becoming interested in the some- 

 what uncommon sight, the girl desired to observe 

 the royal insect more closely ; so the bee-master, 

 having made her put on gloves, placed the queen in 

 her hand. Immediately the whole of the bees in the 

 swarm thronged around. With an admonition to the 

 child to remain motionless and speechless, and with- 

 out fear to retain her self-possession, the gentleman 

 quietly covered her head and shoulders with a very 

 thin handkerchief, and made her stretch out her 

 right hand, in which the queen was. The swarm at 

 once began to settle, and hung from the girl's hand 

 and arm as if from the branch of a tree. Delighted 

 at the novelty of the affair, and finding herself un- 

 stung, the child then requested to have her head 

 uncovered. After a while, when the bees were all 

 quiet, a hive was brought. By a vigorous shake the 

 swarm was made to fall into their abode, and every 

 one of the insects was got rid of without the infliction 

 of a single wound. 



Probably it would not often happen that such 



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