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treasures of the field) The foraging bee may wander far 
from the hive and find itself in surroundings more or less 
unfamiliar, but it only requires to rise high in the air to 
perceive the great landmarks for its home—the church spire, 
big tree, or prominent house, as the case may be. Queens 
also in preparing for their mating flight carefully locate the 
position of the hive, and, at the final stage, rise by great 
circles high in the air. It is the observation of this which 
has given rise to the quite erroneous idea that the mating 
of the queen takes place in the “blue empyrean, remote 
from the haunts of birds, who might otherwise profane 
the ceremony.” 
It is evident that the shifting of a stock of bees without 
due precaution may lead to great confusion and the loss of 
a number of bees. If the hive, for instance, be lifted at 
night to another part of the apiary, bees going forth in the 
morning will be unaware of any change, and, returning to 
the spot where the hive formerly stood, will become greatly 
perturbed, will either perish on the old stance, or attempt to 
enter neighbouring hives. If the stock be shifted a distance 
of two or three miles the issuing bees will observe that the 
stance has been changed and will take steps to relocate 
themselves. Difficulty then arises when a bee-keeper requires 
to move a stock of bees within the area of twelve thousand 
acres with which they are acquainted, but it can be readily 
accomplished if steps are taken to inform the bees that they 
have been moved. The Americans claim that closing the 
hive and wheeling it round on a barrow for a certain time 
is sufficient. The bees will then take care to mark the 
position in which they have been placed.. Another method 
is to transfer the stock towards evening to a temporary box, 
in which the bees can be closed up, when all have entered 
for the night. They are kept confined until the afternoon 
of the next day, and then transferred to their own hive at 
the new situation. This enforced sojourn in a strange 
receptacle makes the bees very cautious in coming forth, 
and they proceed to mark carefully the new position. 
