200 HANDLING BEES. 



"Above all, never blowf on them; they will try to sting di- 

 rectly, if you do. 



"If you want to catch any of the bees, make a bold sweep at 

 them with your hand; and if you catch them without pressing 

 them, they will not sting. I have so caught three or four at a 

 "time. If you want to do anything to a single bee, catch him 

 'as if you loved him,' between your finger and thumb, where 

 the tail joins on to the body, and he cannot hurt you." 



When gorged with honey, they may be taken up by hand- 

 fuls, and sui¥ered to run over the face, and may even have 

 their glossy backs gently smoothed as they rest on our per- 

 sons; and all the feats of the celebrated Wildman may be 

 safely imitated by experts, who, by securing the queen, can 

 make the bees hang in large festoons from their chin, without 

 incurring any risk of being taken by the beard. 



' ' Such was the spell, which round a Wildman 's arm, 



Twin'd in dark wreaths the fascinated swarm; 

 Bright o'er his breast the glittering legions led. 



Or with a living garland bound his head. 



His dextrous hand, with firm yet hurtless hold. 

 Could seize the chief, known by her scales of gold. 



Prune 'mid the wondering train her filmy wing. 



Or o'er her folds the silken fetter fling." 



394. The ignorance of most hee-heepers of the almost un- 

 limited control xvhicli may he peaceably acquired over bees, 

 has ever been regarded by the author of this treatise as the 

 greatest obstacle to the speedy introduction of modern methods. 

 Such ignorance has led to the invention of costly and com- 

 plicated hives, all the ingenuity and expense lavished upon 

 which, are known, by the better informed, to be as unneces- 

 sary as a costly machine for lifting up bread and butter, and 



t While bees _ resent the warm breath exhaled slowly from the lungs, 

 we have ascertained, that they will run from a blast of cold air blown 

 upon them by the mouth of the operator, almost as quickly as from 

 smoke. Before employing smoke Mr. Langstroth often used a pair of 

 bellows. 



