220 BEE MANIPULATION. [Ch. v. 



when it is so dark that the bees, if they should fly, are 

 unable to see where to fly to, for in that case they will 

 be sure to settle upon the operator. A little water 

 sprinkled over them from a watering-pot is likely to in- 

 duce them to quit the ground and go up into the hive 

 more quickly; a little smoke, or a touch with a twig 

 or feather, may answer the same purpose, and if the 

 feather be dipped in diluted carbolic acid it will more 

 speedily do its work. With a goose wing they may con- 

 veniently be swept up. The operator should be protected 

 with the bee dress and other precautions described on 

 page 209. 



Mr. Langstroth writes: "If they seem at all reluctant 

 to enter [the new hive], gently scoop up a few of them with 

 a large spoon and shake them close to its entrance. As 

 they go in with fanning wings, they will raise a peculiar 

 note, which communicates to their companions the joyful 

 news that they have found a home ; and in a short time 

 the whole swarm will enter, without injury to a single bee." 

 On catching the note the queen speedily follows, and, 

 being longer in limb, she outstrips the others in the 

 race. 



In the J^ournal of Horticulture, Mr. Woodbury says: " If 

 combs be fixed in the frames, the crown-board may be 

 removed and the cluster knocked out of the straw hive 

 on to the top of the exposed frames. The bees will 

 disappear between them wdth the utmost alacrity, delighted 

 to have met with a ready-furnished dwelling, and the top, 



