THE BEE. 159 



It turned out that the man was almost invulnerable to stings ; and al- 

 though several dozen stings or so were in his face, they did not leave 

 the slightest mark, and certainly did not appear to inconvenience him 

 in the very smallest degree. He afterward in the same cool manner 

 extracted the greater part of the combs, and the bees, taking the hint, 

 speedily evacuated the premises. There was but little honey, but 

 abundance of black, worn-out combs, and plenty of young bees in every 

 stage of advancement. It is said that if any one is repeatedly stung by 

 scorpions, the pain diminishes each time, and that at last the system is 

 entirely uninjured by it. An English naturalist was bold enough to try 

 the experiment upon himself, and found that after he had been stung 

 four or five times the pain was comparatively trifling. Perhaps the 

 same may be the case with regard to the bee-stings, and the old man 

 just mentioned possibly owed his immunity to his frequent experience, 

 as Mithridates was said to have completely fortified himself against 

 poisons, by gradually imbuing his system with them. 



3. Adopting as a rule the non-disturbance in any serious way of your 

 stock-hive, so that honey and brood shall there at least flourish together, 

 when you think it is full (a solid sound from the hive, and a great long- 

 continued buzz from the bees in answer to a tap, is good evidence of 

 that state), attach your side-box, open the communication, and make 

 the bees enter and leave by the entrance to the side-box, which you will 

 do by closing up the entrance to the other at night when the bees are 

 all at home. A little piece of comb, fastened at the top of the side- 

 box, may be at once a useful hint and a temptation to the bees. This 

 box is to be kept solely for honey-combs by ventilation, which prevents 

 the queen from laying eggs in it. When the heat in the side-box is 

 70°, you should admit air through the top by means of a piece of tin 

 pierced with holes. A draft through the hive, from the entrance to the 

 roof, now takes place. This must not be done until you see the bees 

 have fairly passed the Rubicon, and have done and ventured too much 

 to be inclined to retreat to the stock-hive. When the box is full, you 

 can take it away, and replace it emptied, or by another, or by opening 

 a communication to a similar side-box on the opposite side, as in Mr. 

 Grant's hive. The bees in it will soon flock to the queen in the parent 

 hive. This arrangement prevents swarming, or at least has a great 

 tendency to prevent it ; as the bees have more room given to them just 

 when they want it. It also raises the stock itself to the highest state 

 of prosperity, as only the surplus honey is taken away, and the brood is 

 not interfered with. 



4. But if you wish to have an increase of stock without the incon- 

 venience of natural swarming, you may easily do so by treating the 

 side-box exactly the same as the chief one — that is, by leaving it un- 

 ventilated. Brood as well as honey will then be deposited in it, and 

 you have only to watch for a favorable opportunity of securing two 

 stocks. This should be a little before the natural period of swarmiiig, 

 of which the signs are, clustering on the outside, activity and commotion 

 among the drones, inactivity of the workers, portentous silence in the 

 hive in the day (during which the prudent bees are supposed to be fill- 

 ing their pockets with provisionsfor their journey), and it singular hum- 



