THE HONEY-BEE CAPABLE OF BEING TAMED. 187 
hiving of them might always be conducted without risk, if 
there were not, occasionally, some improvident or unfortu- 
nate ones, who, coming forth without a sufficient amount of 
the soothing supply, are filled instead with the bitterest 
hate against any one daring to meddle with them. Such 
thriftless radicals are always to be dreaded, for they must 
vent their spleen on something, even though they perish in 
the act. (84.) 
If a whole colony, on sallying forth, possessed such a 
ferocious spirit, no one could hive them unless clad in a 
coat of mail, bee-proof; and not even then, until all the 
windows of his house were closed, his domestic animals be- 
stowed in some place of safety, and sentinels posted at suit- 
able stations, to warn all comers to keep at a safe distance. 
In short, if the propensity to be exceedingly good-natured 
after a hearty meal, had not been given to the bee, it could 
never have been domesticated, and our honey would still be 
procured from the clefts of rocks or the hollows of trees. 
Probably the good nature resulting from a hearty meal is 
not the only cause of the above fact. There is another 
physiological fact connected with it (85). When her 
stomach is empty, a bee can curve her abdomen easily to 
sting. If her honey-sack is full, the rings of the abdomen 
are distended, and she finds more difficulty in taking the 
proper position for stinging. 
381. A second peculiarity, in the nature of bees, gives 
an almost unlimited control over them, and may be ex- 
pressed as follows: 
Bees, when frightened, usually begin to jill themselves with 
honey from their combs. 
If the Apiarist only succeeds in frightening his little sub- 
jects, he can make them as peaceable as though they were 
incapable of stinging. By the use of a little smoke, the 
largest and most fiery colony may be brought into complete 
subjection. As soon as the smoke is blown among them, 
