176 THE HONEY-BEE. 



a cluster, it should be shaded from the direct rays of 

 the sun ; for the excitement, the close massing, com- 

 bined with the natural warmth of the surrounding 

 air, will raise greatly the temperature of the mass ; 

 and, to escape suffocation, a second flight is some- 

 times undertaken. A wet sheet, an umbrella, a sack 

 supported on stout sticks, and many another simple 

 expedient will answer the purpose of promoting a 

 requisite coolness. 



Next, immediate preparations should be made for 

 hiving. As a rule, bees, when swarming, are very 

 good-tempered, because they are gorged ; and, like 

 Englishmen, improve in disposition under the in- 

 fluence of good food. Some curious stories, indeed, 

 have been told of the perfect inoffensiveness of these 

 insects when thus forming a colony. We will give 

 two of these, narrated by Bevan, 



A gentleman wishing to hive a swarm that had 

 settled on the branch of an apple-tree, gave the hive 

 in which he was going to place them into the hands 

 of a maid-servant. She, being a novice, and some- 

 what timid, covered her head and shoulders with a 

 cloth, to protect her face. On shaking the tree, most 

 of the bees fell upon the cloth, and quickly crept 

 under it, covering the girl's chest and neck up to her 

 very chin. Her master instantly impressed her with 

 the necessity of being perfectly quiet, and refraining 

 from all buffeting, while he began to search for the 

 queen. Having found her majesty, he gently removed 

 her ; but, to his disappointment, the swarm showed 

 no signs of following her. Suspecting at once that 

 there was a second queen in the cluster, he made 

 another search, and found his supposition was correct. 



