30 THE HONEY BEE CAPABLE OF BEING TAMEP. 



By the use of sweetened water or smoke, or by drumming 

 I can superintend a large number of hives, perfoptning every 

 operation that is necessary for pleasure or profit, and yet not 

 run the risks of being slung, which must frequently be in- 

 curred in attempting to manage, in the simplest way, the 

 common hives. 



Let all your motions about your hives be gentle and slow. 

 Accustom your bees to your presence ; never crush or injure 

 them, or breathe upon them in any operation ; acquaint your- 

 self fully with the principles of management detailed in this 

 treatise, and you will find that you have but little more rea- 

 son to dread the sting of a bee, than the horns of your favor- 

 ite cow, or the heels of your faithful horse. 



Armed with one of my bee-hats and a pair of india-rubber 

 gloves, even the most timid, by availing themselves of these 

 principles, may open my hives and deal with their bees, with 

 a freedom utterly astonishing to the oldest cultivators of bees, 

 on the common plan. In the management of the most 

 extensive Apiary, no operation will ever be necessary, which 

 by exasperating a whole colony, impels them to assail, with 

 almost irresistible fury, the person of the bee-keeper. 



CHAPTER III. 



The Queen or Mother-Bee, the Drones, and the Workers ; with various 

 Highly Important Facts in their Natural History. 



Honey Bees can flourish only when associated in large 

 numbers, as a colony. In a solitary state, a single bee is 

 almost as helpless as a new-born child, being unable to 



