62 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 
if the night be exceptionally hot and oppressive, 
and the fanning army unusually large, the bee- 
master with an eye for dramatic effect generally 
finishes the tiro’s wonderment by showing him an 
old trick. He lowers the candle until the flame 
is just behind the squadron of ventilating bees, 
and at once all is darkness: the current of air 
drawn out of the hive has proved strong enough 
to extinguish the light. 
It has been said that there are guard-bees who 
watch the hive-door day and night. To the un- 
skilled human eye one bee looks very like another, 
and it is difficult to understand how, in the many 
thousands that pass, the guards manage to detect 
an intruder so unerringly, and to eject her with 
such unceremonious promptitude as is always 
shown. Probably it is not by sight alone that 
these occasional interlopers are singled out. The 
sense of smell in the honey-bee is extraordinarily 
acute, and this, no doubt, assists the guards in 
their difficult work. It is well known that a queen- 
bee must possess a very distinct odour, as her 
mere presence abroad, even when shut up in a box, 
will attract the drones from all quarters. In all 
likelihood the peculiar aroma from each queen-bee 
impregnates the whole colony, and thus the guard- 
bees are able at once to distinguish their own kin 
from that of alien stocks. 
Still watching the outside life of the hive in the 
old bee-garden, many other interesting things 
