164 THE BEE keeper's MANUAL. 



dust or dirt, is almost sure to perish. Unless the bees clus- 

 ter at a considerable distance from the place where they are 

 intended to be permanently stationed, the new hive which 

 receives them may stand on the Protector in its proper place, 

 with the sheet tacked or pinned to the alighting-board, and 

 spread out over the mound in front of the entrance. If the 

 common hives are used, they must generally be carried to 

 the swarm, and propped up on the sheet, so as to give the 

 bees a free admission. When the bees alight where they 

 can be easily reached from the ground, the limb on which 

 they have clustered, should, with one hand, be shaken, so 

 that they may gently fall into a basket held under them, by 

 the other. If the basket is sufficiently open to admit the 

 air freely, and not so open as to allow the bees to get 

 through the sides, it will answer all the better. The bees 

 should now be carried very slowly to their new home, 

 and be gently shaken, or poured out, on the sheet, in front 

 of it. If they seem at all reluctant to enter, take up a few 

 of them in a large spoon, (a cup will answer equally well,) 

 and shake them close to the entrance. As they go in, they 

 will fan with their wings, and raise a peculiar note, which 

 communicates the joyful news that they have found a home, 

 to the rest of their companions ; and in a short lime, the 

 whole swarm will enter, and they are thus safely hived, 

 without injury to a single bee. When bees are once shaken 

 down on the sheet, the great mass of them are very unwil- 

 ling to take wing again ; for they are loaded with honey, and 

 like heavily armed troops, they desire to march slowly and 

 sedately to the place of encampment. If the sheet hangs 

 in folds, or is not stretched out, so as to present ah uninter- 

 rupted surface, they are often greatly confused, and take a 

 long time to find the entrance to the hive. If it is desired 

 to have them enter sooner than they are sometimes inclined 



