298 THE APIARY. 
upside down on the ground, scarcely a bee will fly out, and 
there will be little danger of being stung. The timid and 
inexperienced should protect themselves with a bee-veil, 
and may blow more smoke among them, as soon as the hive 
is inverted. After placing it on the ground, the forcing-box 
must be put over it. If smooth inside, it should have slats 
fastened one-third of the distance from the top, to aid bees 
in clustering. Some Apiarists place the box slanting on the 
hive, so as to be able to see the bees climbing. This 
method, called open driving, is a little slower, but it may 
give the operator the chance of seeing the queen; when the 
driving can be considered as done. ; 
5765. As soon as the Apiarist has confined the bees, he 
should place an empty hive—which we call the decoy-hive 
—upon their old stand, which those returning from the 
fields may enter, instead of dispersing to other hives, to 
meet, perhaps, with a most ungracious reception. As a 
general rule, however, a bee with a load of honey or bee- 
bread, after the extent of her resources is ascertained, is 
pretty sure to be welcomed by any hive to which she may 
carry her treasure; while a poverty-stricken unfortunate 
that presumes to claim their hospitality is, usually, at once 
destroyed. The one meets with as flattering a reception as 
a wealthy gentleman proposing to take up his abode in a 
country village, while the other is as much an object of dis- 
like as a poor man, who bids fair to become a public charge. 
If there are in the Apiary several old colonies standing 
close together, it is desirable, in performing this operation, 
that the decoy-hive, and the forcing-box, should be of the 
same shape and even color with that of the parent-stock. If 
they are very unlike, and the returning bees attempt to 
enter a neighboring hive, because it resembles their old 
home, the adjoining hives should have sheets thrown over 
them, to hide them from the bees, until the operation is 
completed. 
