THE BEEKKEPERS' DIRECTORY. 83 



this is done, I. puff a little smoke in at the entrance of the hive, 

 so as to keep the bees from running out and stinging me, which 

 they are sure to do if no precaution is taken, and of all the bees 

 to sting, those which are suddenly awakened from a long winter 

 nap are the worst. Again, all such bees as get out before the 

 hive is placed upon its stand are lost, as they mark their location ' 

 where they leave the hive and so never find it again, unless it is 

 placed on its former stand, which thing I do not do. Also the 

 smoking causes them to be slower about coming out, so that 

 swarming out and confusion are avoided. As soon as the smoke 

 is puffed into the hive the cellar door is shut so as not to raise 

 the temperature and thus arouse the bees inside, when the hive 

 is wheeled to where it is to stand during the summer, the en- 

 trance adjusted and the cover put on. In setting out, they are 

 not all taken out at once, but I set out ten to fifteen in the 

 morning, scattering them well over the yard, and then as many 

 more at night, beginning at about four o'clock. This is to avoid 

 robbing, and also the mixing of the bees. Of course, it is un- 

 derstood that the bees are only set out on pleasant days, with 

 the mercury at fifty degrees or above in the shade. It is sup- 

 posed by some that when the bees are set from the cellar, each 

 Colony must occupy the exact position or stand that it did the 

 summer and fall previous, or else many bees will be lost by go- 

 ing back to their former location. 



All who are at all familiar with bees know that the young bee, 

 when it comes out of the^hive for the first time, marks its loca- 

 tion by turning its head toward the hive upon taking wing, when 

 it commences flying in front of the hive in circles, ;each circle 

 growing larger as it goes farther from the hive, until it is lost 

 from sight. In this way the exact spot of " home" is located, 

 after which no more precaution needs to be taken by our bee, 

 for it seems to remember ever afterward where home is. For 

 this reason it leaves its hive on all subsequent times in a direct 

 Ime of flight, never looking at the hive at all, so that if the hive 

 is carried to a new location, the bees do not seem to know it 

 (unless carried a mile or more away) ; but sally forth only to re- 

 turn to the exact spot where they first marked their home, there 

 to die homeless wanderers. Now, while as a rule this is perfectly 

 true, no matter whether the hive is moved in the night or day 

 time, yet I find that there are two exceptions, one of which is in 

 the case of a swarm, and the other is the first flight iti spring. 



