140 THE BEE-MASTER OF WARRILOW 
against honey-thieves of all sorts, as well as against 
the weather, brought about a new order of things 
in bee-life. The free circulation of air which would 
obtain when the bee-colony was established naturally 
in a cleft of a rock or in a hollow tree became no 
longer possible. And so—as they have been proved 
to have done in many modern instances—the bees 
set to work to evolve new methods to meet new 
necessities, and the present ventilation-system 
gradually became an established habit of the 
race. 
Watching a hive of bees on any hot summer’s 
day, one very curious, not to say startling, fact 
must strike the most superficial observer. If the 
fanning bees were stationed round the flight-hole 
in a merely casual, irregular way, their obvious 
employment would be surprising enough. But it is 
at once seen that each fanner forms part in an 
ingenious and carefully thought-out plan. Out- 
wardly, the fanners are arranged in regular rows, 
one behind the other, all with their heads pointed 
towards the hive, and all working their wings so 
fast that their incessant movement becomes nearly 
invisible. These rows of bees extend sometimes 
for several inches over the alighting-board, and on 
very hot days there may be as many as seven or 
eight ranks. The ventilating army never covers the 
whole available space. It is always at one side or 
the other; or, where the entrance is a wide one, it 
may be divided into two wings, leaving a centre 
space free. The fanning bees, moreover, do not 
keep close together, but stand in open order, so that 
the continual coming and going of the nectar- 
gatherers is in no wise impeded. There is a con- 
