§ I.] HIVING SWARMS. 213 



be desired, the bee-keeper will defer increasing the space 

 until the swarm has issued forth. . 



In many country districts it is a time-honoured Qustom 

 for the good folks of the village to commence on such 

 occasions a terrible noise of tanging and ringing with 

 frying-pan and key. This is done with the absurd notion ^ 

 that the bees are charmed with the clangorous din, and 

 may by it be induced to settle as near as possible to the 

 source of such sweet sounds. This is, however, quite a 

 mistake : there are other and better means for the pur- 

 pose. The practice of ringing was originally adopted 

 for a diiferent and far more sensible object — viz., for the 

 purpose of giving notice that a swarm had issued forth, 

 and that the owner was anxious to claim the right of 

 following, even though it should alight on a neighbour's 

 premises. It would be curious to trace how this ancient 

 ceremony has thus got corrupted from the original 

 design. 



In case the bees do not speedily after swarming .mani- 

 fest signs of settling, a few Ijandfuls of sand or loose 

 mould may be thrown up into the air so as to fall among 

 the winged throng ; they mistake this for rain, and then 

 very quickly determine upon settling. Some persons 

 squirt a little water from a garden engine with the same 

 object. There are, indeed, many ingenious devices used 

 . by apiarians for decoying the swarms. Mr. Langstroth 

 nientions a plan of stringing dead bees together, and 

 tying a bunch of them on any shrub or low tree upon 



