ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 155 



should have slats fastened one-third of the distance from 

 the top, to aid the bees in clustering. 



As soon as the Apiarian has confined the bees, he should 

 place an empty hive which I shall call the decoy-hive 

 upon their old stand, which those returning from the 

 fields may enter, instead of dispersing to other hives, to 

 meet, perhaps, with a most ungracious reception. As a 

 general rule, however, a bee with a load of honey or 

 bee-bread, after the extent of his resources is ascertained, 

 is pretty sure to be welcomed by any hive to which he 

 may carry his treasure ; while a poverty-stricken unfortu- 

 nate that presumes to claim their hospitality is, usually, at 

 once destroyed. The one meets with as flattering a recep- 

 tion as a wealthy gentleman proposing to take up his 

 abode in a country village, while the other is as much an 

 object of dislike as a poor man, who bids fair to become a 

 public charge. 



To retiirn to our imprisoned bees : their hive should be 

 beaten smartly with the palms of the hands, or two small 

 rods, on the sides to which the combs are attached, so as 

 to run no risk of loosening* them. These "rappings," 

 although not of a very " spiritual " character, produce, 

 nevertheless, a decided effect upon the bees. Their first 

 impulse, if no smoke were used, would be to sally out, 

 and wreak their vengeance on those who thus rudely assail 

 their honied dome ; but as soon as they inhale its fumes, 

 and feel the terrible concussions of their once stable abode, 

 a sudden fear that they are to be driven from their treas- 

 ures, takes possession of them. Determined to prepare 

 for this unceremonious writ of ejection, by carrying off 

 what they can, each bee begins to lay in a supply, and in 



* There is little danger of loosening the combs of an old stock, bnt the greatest 

 cantion is necessary when the combs of a hive are new. If, in inverting such a 

 hive, the broad side* of the combs, instead of their edges, are inclined downwards, 

 the heat, and weight of the bees, may loosen the combs, and ruin the stock. 



