TRANSFKKRING. 299 



576. To return to our imprisoned bees: tlioir liive should 

 be beaten smartly with the palms of the hands, or two small 

 rods, on the sides to which the combs are attached, so as 

 to run no risk of loosening* them. These " rappings," 

 although not of a very "spiritual" character, produce, 

 nevertheless, a decided effect upon the bees. Their first 

 impulse, if no smoke were used, would be to sally out, and 

 wreak their vengeance on those who thus rudely assail 

 their honied dome ; but as soon as they inhale its fumes, 

 and feel the terrible concussion of their once stable abode, 

 a sudden fear, that they are to be driven from their treas- 

 ures, takes possession of them. Determined to prepare for 

 this unceremonious writ of ejection, by carrying off what 

 the3^ tan, each bee begins to lay in a supply, and in about 

 five minutes, all are filled to their utmost capacity. A pro- 

 digious humming is now heard, as they begin to mount into 

 the upper box : and in about fifteen minutes from the time 

 the rapping began — if it has been continued with but slight 

 intermissions — the mass of bees, with their queen, will hang 

 clustered in the forcing-box, like any natural swarm, and 

 may, at the proper time, be readily shaken out on a sheet, 

 in front of their intended hive. 



Now put the forcing box on their old stand, and carry 

 the parent-hive to some place where you cannot be annoyed 

 by other bees. 



577. It is important to make sure that the queen is 



removed, as she might be injured in the transfer of comb. 



Her presence among the driven bees can be ascertained in 



a few minutes, by the quietness of their behavior, or by the 



eggs which she drops on the bottom board, and which can 



easily be seen if a black cloth is spread under the forcing 



box (156). 



* There is little danger of loosening the combs of an old colony, tat the great- 

 est caution is necessary when the combs of a hive are new. If, in inverting 

 such a hive, the broad Kvlp^-i of the combs instead of their cdf/fiN, are inclined 

 downwards the heat, and weight of the bees may loosen the combs, and ruin 

 the colony. 



