THE HONET-BEE CAPABLE OF BEINQ TAMED. 187 



hiving of them might always be conducted without rials, 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 ttem. 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, visually begin to fill 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, 



