148 THE BEE keeper's MANUAL. 



that it is not a whit more efficacious than the custom prac- 

 ticed by some savage tribes, who, when the sun is eclipsed, 

 imagining that it has been swallowed by an enormous dra- 

 gon, resort to the most frightful noises, to compel his snake- 

 ship to disgorge their favorite luminary, if a swarm has 

 selected a new home previous to their departure, no amount 

 of noise will ever compel them to alight, but as soon as all 

 the bees which compose the emigrating colony have left the 

 hive, they fly in a direct course, or " bee-line," to the chosen 

 spot. I have noticed that when bees are much neglected 

 by those whp pretend to take care of them, such unceremo- 

 nious leave-taking is quite common ; on the contrary, when 

 proper attention is bestowed on them, it seldom occurs. 



It can seldom if ever occur to those who manage their 

 bees according to my system ; as I shall show in the Chap- 

 ter on Artificial Swarming. If the Apiarian perceives that 

 his swarm instead of clustering begins to rise higher and 

 higher in the air, and evidently means to depart, not a mo- 

 ment is to be lost : instead of empty noises, he must resort 

 to means much more efliective to stay their vagrant propen- 

 sities. Handfulls of dirt cast into the air, or water thrown 

 among them, will often so disorganize them as to compel 

 them to alight. Of all devices for stopping them, the most 

 original one that I have ever heard of, is to flash the sun's 

 rays among them, by the use of a looking glass ! I have nev- 

 er had occasion to try it, but the anonymous writer who rec- 

 ommends it, says that he never knew it to fail. If they are 

 forcibly prevented from eloping, then special care must be 

 taken or they will be almost sure soon after hiving, to leave 

 for their selected home. The queen should be caught and 

 confined for several days in a way which will be subsequently 

 described. The same caution must be exercised, when neW 

 swarms abandon their hive. If the queen cannot be caught. 



