BEES, BEE-mVES, AND BEE CULTURE. 103 



shrewd suspicion that many of the bees he there observed gathering 

 honey were labourers from his own apiary. In order to identify 

 his own flock amongst the rest, he hit upon a homely but very 

 effective expedient. Having borrowed Mrs. Wildman's " dredging 

 box," he stationed himself near the entrance of his hives, and 

 gently dusted his bees with flour as they issued forth. He then 

 betook himself tp Hampstead, where he found his previous surmise 

 confirmed, for there were numbers of his bees in their livery of 

 white. 



Wildman became noted for the remarkable control he obtained 

 over his bees, many instances of which he exhibited before the 

 pubHc. Many of his operations with them were regarded as feats 

 of legerdemain by the uninitiated, as when he appeared before 

 the king George III. with a swarm of bees hanging in festoons 

 from his chin, or suspended in a cluster at arm's length. The 

 Journal of Horticulture recently, in alluding to Wildman, gives the 

 following particulars as to his performances : — 



Near the " Three Hats," Islington, was a place of popnlar entertainment 

 called " Dobney's Tea Gardens," kept by Mrs. Ann Dobney. These gardens 

 occupied the ground between White Lion Street and Winchester Place, and 

 were established as far back as 1728. In 1771 the house was taken for a 

 short time as a boarding school; but it was soon changed to its original 

 purpose as a place of amusement, for in 1772 Daniel Wildman exhibited bees 

 here. This is a copy of the advertisement :— 



" June 20, 1772. Exhibition of bees on horseback ! at the Jubilee 

 Gardens, Islington, (late Dobney's), this and every evening until further 

 notice (wet evenings excepted.) 



" The celebrated Daniel Wildman wiU. exhibit several new and amazing 

 experiments, never attempted by any man in this or any other kingdom before. 

 The rider standing upright, one foot on the saddle and one on the neck, with 

 a mask of bees on his head and face. He also rides standing upright on the 

 saddle with the bridle in his mouth, and by firing a pistol, makes one part of 

 the bees march over the table, and the other swarm in the air and return to 

 their hive again, with other performances too tedious to insert. The doors 

 open at sis; to begin at a quarter before seven. Admittance: — ^Box and 

 gallery, 23. ; the other seats. Is. 



The secret of "Wildman's skilful manipulation is well understood 

 now ; it consisted in a careful holding and disposal of the queen, 

 together with confidence in the generally inoffensive disposition of 

 bees. Dr. Evans, whom we have often quoted for his correct 

 information in apiarian matters, thus speaks of his feats : — 



