THE BEE-BURNERS 213 
begin a steady gentle thumping on the lower one 
with the palms of the hands. 
At first, as the combs begin to vibrate, nothing 
but chaos and bewilderment are observable among 
the bees. For a moment or two they run hither 
and thither in obvious confusion. But presently 
they seem to get an inkling of what is required of 
them, and then follows one of the most interesting, 
not to say fascinating, sights in the whole domain 
of bee-craft. Evidently the bees arrive at a 
common agreement that the foundations of their 
old home have become, from some mysterious 
cause or other, undermined and perilous; and the 
word goes forth that the stronghold must be 
abandoned without more ado. On what initiation 
the manceuvre is started has never been properly 
ascertained; but in a little while an ordered discipline 
seems to spread throughout the erstwhile distracted 
multitude. In one solid hurrying phalanx the bees 
begin to sweep up into the empty skep. Once 
fairly on the march, the process is soon completed. 
In eight or ten minutes at most, the entire colony 
hangs in a dense compact cluster from the roof of 
your hive. Below, brood-combs and honey-combs 
are alike entirely deserted. There is nothing left 
for you to do now but carefully to detach the upper- 
most skep: replace the cheese-cloth, thus securing 
your prisoners for their journey to their new home; 
and to set about driving the next stock. 
